Harry Potter and the Undead Realm
by Narfec
Summary: After the Second War, Harry Potter notices dark stirrings at Hogwarts that indicate troubling times ahead. Relatively canon. HP/GW, RW/HG. Relatively canon. Nearing completion.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: As you may have noticed, I'm having some formatting issues… Anybody know why I'm ending up with one giant block of text? Just for the record, my uploads are all .rtf, which has always worked for me in the past. Anyway, on with the show.

_"Won't… Go… Can't…"_

Harry felt as if his brain was splitting directly above his right eye. He had no idea where he was, and couldn't think. He felt as though he'd been crammed into a very small space, and every inch of him was screaming to be let free. He made to grab for his forehead, but quickly realized that he couldn't find his hands. He scream out of horror, and then-

"Ron! Stop it!"

"Well what would you suggest?"

Harry's eyes snapped open. Hovering several feet above him were two pale faces, both framed by brilliantly red hair.

Harry was relieved to see that he could move again. _"Just a dream…"_ He thought to himself, although this did little to put his mind at ease. He looked around to take in his surroundings. He was back in the spare bedroom that he was sleeping in at one of his favorite

The smaller of the two redheaded figures spoke first. "Are you alright, Harry? You look terrible… You were shaking like mad…" The speaker was a very pretty girl with a short stature and long hair. "We weren't sure how to get you to snap out of it, so…"

Harry rubbed a slightly raw spot on his cheek. It felt like he'd been slapped quite hard. The other redhead grinned apologetically. "Sorry mate, but I couldn't think of anything else to do… And it looks like it worked, anyway." Said Ron Weasley,the color beginning to return to his face. "But blimey, you should've seen the look on your face when you woke up!" He rearranged his face to look startled and confused.

"Shut it, Ron, it's not funny! What's wrong, Harry?" Asked Ginny, feeling Harry's forehead for a fever.

"It was nothing. Just a nightmare." Said Harry, throwing Ron a darkly significant look. Ron however, was busy looking out the window, and Harry's look was intercepted by Ginny.

"Harry, your eyes were open. That was no nightmare. You've been groaning and gagging for about a minute since we got here… It sounded like you were choking…" Her voice broke off suddenly.

"Really, I'm fine. Perfectly healthy." Harry leapt out of bed to prove his point.

"Leave him alone Ginny. God knows he's had enough nightmares to know when one's important." Said Ron, turning away from the window, evidently unaware that anything unusual was going on. Noticing Ginny's glare, Harry decided that it would be best if he changed the subject. "So why are you in here anyway? What's going on?"

Ron's face split into a grin. "Oh yeah! I forgot! You're not going to believe it Harry, they're finally here!" Without further explanation, he ran from the room, returning momentarily carrying a large cardboard box. Harry gave him a curious look. "Go on, then, open it already!" Harry pulled out a flap of the already opened box, and saw that it was filled to the brim with chocolate frogs. Still not sure what was going on, Harry pulled out a package and opened it. He received a bit of a shock when he saw the collectible card packaged with the treat- he was looking at his own face on the card. He flipped it over to read the description:

Harry Potter

The Boy Who Lived/ the Chosen one

First known survivor of the killing curse. Known for his many clashes with the Dark Wizard He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, culminating in a battle to the death in 1998. Also notable for being the youngest English quidditch player in over a century.

Brilliant, eh? Said Ron, flashing a card with his own face on it at Harry. "I expect Hermione's were sent to her house… But can you believe it, we're on Chocolate Frog cards!"

Even Ginny grinned at the childlike enthusiasm on his face as he stared at his card. "Well, come on, Ron. Don't forget, Harry has to meet with Professor McGonagall today, and I doubt she'd appreciate being kept waiting."

Harry felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. Between the dream and the arrival of the Chocolate frog Cards, he'd forgotten that he'd arranged to meet with the headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to decide wether or not he'd be allowed to make up his seventh year, which he'd missed almost entirely while hunting Voldemort.

Ginny grabbed a Frog from Harry's box and pocketed the card with one hand while gesturing for Ron to follow with the other "Remember, Harry, we'll be in Diagon Alley afterwards, so meet up with us there after. "Oh, and… Good luck." She said, lightly kissing him on the cheek and giving him a look that said quite plainly that she hadn't forgotten about the dream and would pursue the issue further later. Ron gave Harry a small salute, and followed his sister from the room. Harry sighed and made to get dressed. He couldn't even begin to imagine what he would do if he couldn't return to Hogwarts; the castle had been his home for six years, and knowing that he might not be permitted to return was unbearable to him. Then there was the matter of what he would do for a living; he hadn't given up on his dream of being an aurora, but He and Ron had both decided that they'd had enough Dark Wizard hunting to keep them satisfied for a while.

Sighing once again, he got up to comb his hair, but gave up quickly. Dreading the looming meeting, he made his way outside and turned on the spot, vanishing into thin air to reappear into thin air.

Author's note: You think you know where I'm going with this, dawg? Naw. You guys don't even know. But some stuff might happen. Things'll be cool. By the way, this title is tentative. In the sense that at the time of this writing, I don't have one yet. But it could change, whatever it is.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm sorry, Potter, but I cannot permit it." Professor McGonagall gave Harry a stern look, and he knew that his case was as good as finished. Still, he wasn't ready to give up.

"But Professor, Hermione-"

"An exception has been made for Ms. Granger, as she is pursuing a rather different career path than yourself and Mr. Weasley. As she intends to join the ministry to write laws, she requires intensive study, as I'm sure you know."

"But Professor!"

"No buts, Potter. Am I correct in saying that you still intend to become an auror?"

"Yes, Professor…"

"Then you have little need for further schooling, as the Ministry has already stated that the Auror Office would love to have you and Mr. Weasley as soon as you are ready. I'm sorry, Potter, but I cannot allow you to return to Hogwarts as a student.

Harry felt a twinge of annoyance. "Then what was the point of me coming here? It seems like a letter would have done…"

"I have other matters that I would like to discuss with you, Potter. As you'll recall, I said that you would not be able to return to Hogwarts _as a student…_"

Realization dawned on Harry quickly. "Oh, no, Professor. You can't mean…"

"Yes, Potter. I would like to offer you the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor."

"But I'm not a teacher!"

"I'm sure that many of your classmates would disagree. There's no denying that you've proven yourself a capable teacher on more than one occasion. More capable, I daresay, than some of our previous hires…"

"But I'm not even eighteen yet."

"You would likely be the youngest teacher in the history of the school. However, as there are no more experienced candidates applying for the job, it is a nonissue. If you would consent to teach for one year, I would consider it something of a personal favor."

Harry thought it over for a moment. It wasn't what he'd been expecting when he'd showed up at the castle, but he really did want to come back… And if Gilderoy Lockhart could do it…"Alright, I'll do it."

"Excellent." Said Professor McGonagall, shaking his hand. "I'll expect you back here on September first. If you could send me a letter containing your required textbooks as soon as possible, I would greatly appreciate it. I believe that is all."

Harry glanced around the walls at the portraits of Hogwarts' previous headmasters and headmistresses that hung around the wall, landing on the painting of Albus Dumbledore. "Actually, Professor, there's one more thing." He said slowly. "Is there any way that you could have Professor Snape's portrait hung on the wall?"

Professor McGonagall's eyes widened slightly. "That would be most unusual, as he was never a duly appointed Headmaster…"

"Dumbledore wanted him to be Headmaster." Said Harry stubbornly. Professor McGonagall closed her eyes for a moment, lost in thought. "Yes… I suppose that that could be arranged. Now… If that is all, then you are dismissed."

"Thanks, Professor Mcgonagall." On his way out, Harry could have sworn that he saw Dumbledore's portrait wink at him.

Harry took his time as he left the castle. Although he was rather nervous about teaching, he couldn't deny that he'd enjoyed the time he'd spent teaching Dumbledore's Army. Not to mention that he would essentially have an all access pass to the school. Grinning slightly as he turned on the spot to disapparate, he couldn't help but feel that things had gone better than expected.

Author's Note: This is where things could start to get choppy. This is a short chapter, so I hope the rest will be longer. Anyway, I've got bits and pieces of the story planned out, but I'm not really sure where it'll go.

Now… This is where I'm supposed to start begging for reviews, right? Please review. As a writer, I need attention to survive. PLEASE.

On a sidenote, I'd like to keep up the current pace of one or two chapters everyday. So be ready.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry reappeared in a small area of the Leaky Cauldron that had been roped of for apparition and took a moment to recover from the uncomfortable feeling of having just travelled hundreds of miles in under a second. As soon as he'd regained his bearings, he noticed Ron and Ginny's vibrant Weasley hair. They were waving him over to their table, where they were joined by a girl with an enormous amount of bushy brown hair; Harry's other best friend, Hermione Granger.

"Well? What did she say? Are they letting you go back?" She asked eagerly.

"Yeah… Sort of, anyway." Harry said, and launched into the story of his meeting with the headmistress.

"Just _how_ in the name of Merlin's moldy jockstrap did _you_ get appointed as a teacher?" Ron said, dumbstruck. "You skipped your N.E.W.T.s, and you didn't even have to apply!"

Hermione gave him a disapproving look. "Honestly, I think Harry's as qualified as anyone else that she could find. "He's been awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, has experience teaching student groups. Not to mention he's fought Voldemort just about every year for the last decade…"

"And from the sound of things, people aren't exactly lining up for the job." Harry mused. "I reckon that people are still afraid that it's cursed. Mind, I hope that the curse broke when Voldemort died. I'd rather not end up like any of the last few teachers…"

"And she's got to find people to fill in for all the teachers that Voldemort killed and replaced last year and a new head of house for Gryffindor… It looks like she's got her work cut out for her this year." Hermione concluded.

Ron still looked dumbfounded. "But… Come on! Harry?" A look of realization dawned on Ron's face. "Hermione… That makes him your teacher! Professor Potter!" He grinned and turned to Harry. And that means that you have to teach HER! And _her._" He said, pointing to Hermione and Ginny in turn. "Blimey, it'd be worth going back just to see that! But… Erm… I'm sure he'll do alright…" He finished, withering under glares from Hermione and Ginny.

"Anyway, I suppose we'd best get down to business." Said Hermione briskly, finishing off her drink and standing up. "The booklists aren't out yet, but we can at least get new robes… And we'll need to stop by Flourish and Bott's, Harry, you'll probably need to pick out textbooks… And there's a new book on ancient Norwegian wizards that I'd love to get my hands on…" Her talk of books carried them all the way to Madame Malkin's robes shop.

Several hours later, Harry was carrying a small stack of books and an enormous great horned owl. As much as replacing Hedwig bothered him, he'd come to the conclusion that he needed his own owl.

As they entered the Leaky Cauldron to prepare to apparate, Ron and Hermione broke off to say their goodbyes in private. To pass the time while waiting for them, Harry picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet laying abandoned on a nearby table. As soon as he'd read the bolded headline atop the front page, he let out a loud groan.

"What's the matter?" Ginny asked, peering over his shoulder to read the paper. Harry read aloud:

"It was announced today by Ministry of Magic spokespersons that Stephen Benov, former head of the Improper use of Magic Office, would be replacing acting Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt. Both parties were unavailable for comment. Shacklebolt's wave of new laws concerning the rights of Muggles and Mugge-borns have been met with mixed results in the wizarding community, and… (Story continued on Page 3)."

Harry exchanged a dark look with Ginny before scanning the bar for Ron and Hermione. He rushed over them and grabbed Ron's shoulder.

"Harry! You can't just-" Ron once again quailed under a harsh glare from Ginny, whom he had interrupted on more than one occasion. "Well, what's so urgent, then?"

Harry shoved the newspaper under his nose, and he and Hermione began to read. Ron's mouth gaped wordlessly as he read, but Hermione's face remained impassive. "How could they replace Kingsley?" Ron blurted out.

"I can't say I'm surprised." Said Hermione, to the amazement of the other three. "Well, think about it. Kingsley's too noble to be a successful politician. He spends too much time thinking about what's good for people, and not enough currying favor from other politicians. To be perfectly honest, I've been waiting for this for a while. But," she said, scratching her cheek thoughtfully, "I can't say that I've ever heard of him before. I think we should watch out for him… Ron, can you ask you Dad if he knows him?"

"Right, I'll do that later."

"Good, I'll do a bit of research on my own. Do write if you find anything…"

As it turned out, even Mr. Weasley knew very little about Benov. Evidently, he was a rather unassuming character, who had spent time in various departments of the Magical Law Enforcement Office. Mr. Weasley seemed to suspect that it was the Ministry's way of lying low in the aftermath of the last year's disasters.

"Presumably they don't want to much attention at the moment… I'll bet they're taking some time to lick their wounds. They didn't come off too well when You-Know-Who took over, and they're probably taking time to rehabilitate their image by slipping in a puppet."

Author's note: Blech. More exposition. I don't like it much, and I feel like it's showing in the writing. But I hope it'll be done soon, and things can pick up. I know this chapter ended pretty roughly, but at the end, I'd said what I'd needed to, and had already spent about 5 hours writing on/off.

I'm hoping to have another chapter up tomorrow, but it might not happen. I doubt that anybody's really interested though, so I guess it doesn't really matter.

Argh. Now I have to come up with a name for the damn owl. Any ideas? I know you people are out there somewhere...


	4. Chapter 4

Harry awoke several days later with a strange weight on his chest. Upon reaching for his glasses, Harry could see that his new owl, whom Ginny had dubbed Berkelly, had perched herself on his chest. It wouldn't have been Harry's first choice, but the name did have its advantages.

"Get off, Berk." He muttered. The owl continued to stare into his eyes with its head cocked slightly to the side and a slightly vacant expression on its face. Harry gently lifted it onto the the floor, where it began to totter around. He was beginning to wonder if he'd picked a bad owl, but Ginny had promised that she would hit him with a bat-bogey hex so powerful that he would never leave St. Mungo's again if he even thought about taking her back to the shop. Sighing to himself, Harry picked up Berkelly and locked her in her cage before getting dressed and going downstairs for breakfast.

Most of the Weasley's were already present in the kitchen when he arrived downstairs. Upon his arrival, the kitchen burst into cheers. "Happy birthday, Harry!" Said Mrs. Weasley, rushing forward to hug him tightly.

"Wha- Oh yeah!" Over a decade of living with the Dursleys had trained Harry not to look forward to his birthdays. "Thanks, Mrs. Weasley!" Said Harry, cracking a grin at the magnificent breakfast that Mrs. Weasley had laid out on the table.

"It was nothing, dear." Mrs. Weasley responded, stroking his hair fondly. "We've put together a bit of celebration for later. Hermione and Hagrid said that they'd both be here later this afternoon. Bill and Fleur should be here at some point too; Charlie is out of the country, but he sends his best. I'm still waiting for George and Percy's owls, but I expect that they should both be here..."

As soon as Harry had sat down at the table, Ron pushed a large pile of boxes towards him. "Go on, then! Presents!"

Harry found the entire morning quite satisfactory. Ron had given him a poster that had been enchanted to show the current standings of the international Quidditch League, and Mrs. Weasley had thrown together an enormous basket of homemade sweets and a photograph book containing many moving snapshots of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Hermione arrived late in the morning; she appeared out of thin air on the front garden, clutching a large ginger cat and a large package in her arms. As soon as she'd appeared, the cat jumped out her arms. She ran up the lawn to meet Harry and Ron at the doorway.

"Ron! Harry! It's great to see you again! Next time I visit, I think I'll leave Crookshanks behind, though- he doesn't seem too fond of apparition..." Crookshanks looked rather frazzled indeed; he was stalking away, with his nose held high, his fur still standing on end. "Anyway, happy birthday, Harry!" She said, hugging him and handing him the package. Harry knew what it was before he'd even started to open it, and sure enough, it was a stack of thick books with names like 'Advanced Defensive Magic and its Uses in Large-Scale Combat.'

"Thanks, Hermione!" Said Harry, privately thinking that he'd be lucky to get a quarter of the way through the stack before Christmas. Under the pretext of storing the books in his bedroom, Harry left to give Ron and Hermione some space to greet each other in private.

Harry made it as far as the first-floor landing before he was stopped by Ginny beckoning him into her room. He cautiously followed her, placing his new books on her desk, which groaned ominously under their weight. Ginny Motioned for Harry to sit next to her on her bed.

"Happy birthday, Harry." She said slowly, sounding as though she was choosing her words carefully. "You know... I never got to finish giving you your present last year..."

And before Harry had even processed what she was saying, she was in his arms kissing him, and Harry lost track of everything in his bliss. It seemed to last for years and only seconds at the same time, until-

"Ginny, have you seen- MERLIN'S BEARD!" There was the loud thump of a full laundry basket falling to the floor, and the sound of heavy footfalls. Harry and Ginny split apart, but before he could turn around to see what was going on the doorway, they were both being embraced by Mrs. Weasley, and she was crying on his shoulder.

"Oh, Ginny... Harry... I never knew! I- I can't believe it! Wait until I tell Arthur! Harry Potter, a part of our family!" With this, she was overcome by emotion, and could speak no more. Harry shot Ginny a bewildered look. She responded with a sheepish grin. "We can try again next year, I suppose..." She whispered in his ear consolingly.

Harry decided it would be best if he left Ginny alone with her mother for a bit, so he resumed the trek up to his room. Upon stowing the books in his trunk, his head filled with fresh thoughts about what Professor McGonagall would say about if she were to walk in on him and Ginny like that... He was quite sure that those types of student-teacher relationships would be frowned upon.

Hagrid and Mr. Weasley arrived just in time for the fantastic feast that Mrs. Weasley had prepared. Despite the fact that she had only discovered the true nature of Harry and Ginny's relationship earlier in the day, she was now talking about them as though they were engaged. Harry supposed that it was better than her treatment of Fleur prior to her marriage to Bill.

Hagrid nearly collapsed on Harry's shoulder upon arrival; he clapped Harry on the back so hard that he fell face-first to to the ground. "I can' believe it! Mind, I wouldn'a believed it if Professer McGonagall 'adn't told me 'erself! A professer, Harry! That's makes us colleagues, dunnit? Professer Potter! Yer parents would've been so proud of yeh, Harry..." He said, starting to tear up. "Yeh know, I remember when yeh was just this big, an' I could hold yeh in one hand... Although, I'd bet I still could if it came ter tha', eh?"

"Why don't you sit down and eat? Said Harry, hurriedly changing the subjct.

George and Percy both arrived at the same around the middle of dinner. Harry couldn't help but notice the change that had taken place in the both of them over the summer. Percy hugged both his mother and father and shook Harry's hand vigorously, announcing that he'd taken time off from work to come see them. George, on the other hand, had never seemed so downtrodden. It was quite evident that he was finding it difficult to cope without his twin; he hardly cracked a single joke throughout the entire meal.

By the end of the meal, everyone was feeling quite relaxed, and the conversation was beginning to lull. Just as everybody was preparing to leave the table, there was a knock at the door.

"Hmm... I wonder who that could be at this time of night?" Said Mr. Weasley, getting up to get the door. He returned moments later, followed by a rather old wizard that Harry did not know. He was wearing bright lime green robes, and had thick glasses and very little hair. Despite his tall stature, he was not a very intimidating presence.

"Everyone, this is Stephen Benov... The Minister for Magic." The room went silent, and Benov spoke. "I'd like a private word with Harry Potter, if nobody objects to it..." He said in a very quiet voice. Harry stood up warily, and led him into the sitting room. He sat down on the couch and waited for Benov to speak. Benov took his time before saying anything.

"First of all, I must say... Happy Birthday, Harry. Eighteen years... It has indeed been a long time since the first time we thought that we'd seen the last of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named..." He stopped speaking and stared at Harry curiously for a moment. Harry was slightly startled; the man before him was quite a departure from the ever-bold Rufus Scrimgeour. After several moments of silence, Harry finally spoke.

"Not to be rude Minister, but I doubt that you came all this way just to say happy birthday."

Benov frowned slightly. "No, unfortunately, I did not." He closed his eyes warily. "As I'm quite sure that you're aware, you have been greatly wronged by the Ministry... Only eighteen, and you've already suffered more than most should in a lifetime. And the Ministry, which should have been by your side, found itself working against you more often than not."

Harry was slightly taken aback by the sudden directness. "I'm afraid that I don't quite see what you're getting at, Minister."

"I have come to, as they say, extend the olive branch of friendship. I've made it my vow to cleanse the Ministry of undesirable practices, and to make sure that the system can continue to be successful. It seemed that making sure that the Ministry was on good terms with the wizarding world's greatest hero would be a good place to start."

"So... What exactly are you asking for?"

"At the moment... Nothing." Benov said simply, holding out his hand for Harry to shake. For a moment, Harry wanted to tell Benov to go to hell, that he didn't need the Ministry, and that they had no business approaching _him _for anything after all they'd put him through in the last few years. But then he looked at Benov, and it seemed that to say such things would be nothing more than bullying. Benov had been kind enough, after all, and there seemed to be no reason to distrust him yet...

Still not entirely sure what exactly he was agreeing to, Harry reached out and shook Benov's hand.

Author's note: Took a while, but the result speaks for itself; a long-ass chapter. I've been sick and pretty tired over the last few days, so this took a while. Just to make that clear, it's 4 AM right now.

On a related note, I'm not so sure about grammar in these last few chapters. My proofreading habits are nonexistent, so even though I catch most things the first time around, whatever I miss doesn't end up being fixed. So I'd appreciate people pointing out anything that needs to be fixed.

So things are still a little dull, but I tried to spice things up a bit. Not sure if it worked, but whatever.

On a completely unrelated note, while I was filling out story info, I couldn't help but notice that there's a character category for the Giant Squid. Not only that, but there's a decent number of romance stories concerning... The Giant Squid. Never change.

Anyway... Narf out.


	5. Chapter 5

'_I won't... Can't...'_

_ Harry was surrounded by nothing; it pressed on him from every angle, so tightly that he couldn't tell where it ended and he began. It was trying to take him for itself, but he wouldn't go with it. He refused to fade to nothing. But he couldn't muster the strength to fight it away; he was surrounded by everything that he'd ever feared; all of the things that he'd fought so hard to avoid facing. But he wasn't finished yet; as long as he could, he would continue to struggle._

_ 'I. CANNOT. DIE.'_

Harry snapped back to his senses; he had a moment of panic as he realized that he couldn't move or see. He took a deep breath, and noticed that he was wrapped in his blankets, and that somebody had placed a cool wet towel over his eyes. He extricated himself from the blankets with some difficulty, sat up, and pulled the cloth off his face.

Ginny was sitting next to his bed, stroking his sweaty hair worriedly. "Are you alright?" She asked gently.

"Yeah, I think so... Just a nightmare."

"Harry, do I look like an idiot? You've been thrashing around and sweating for the past quarter of an hour. And you kept screaming and talking in Parseltongue. That was no nightmare, Harry."

The news that he'd been speaking Parseltongue in his sleep was rather disturbing to Harry; he'd been unable to speak Parseltongue since he'd killed Voldemort. Even now, as he tried to speak the language, the strange hissing wouldn't come.

"Harry, you can tell me what's wrong, you know."

"Really. Everything's fine, I swear." 

"You're a dreadful liar, Harry."

"I mean it. It's nothing." 

"Then why can't you tell me?"

It was obvious that she wasn't going to give in, so Harry relented. "It was about... Him. Voldemort. It was like I was seeing into his head again."

Ginny's face whitened slightly, but she showed no other signs of fear. "What was he doing? Is he alive?"

"I don't know... It didn't really feel like he was alive, but I don't know how I would've seen it if he was dead... But it was just a dream." He finished hurriedly, seeing her grow paler. "The connection's gone, anyway. Dumbledore said that it would close when he killed off the piece of his soul that was in me. We both saw him die, anyway." Harry said, trying to convince himself as much as her.

"It wouldn't be the first time..."

"Well, there's hardly anything to do but wait and hope he stays dead this time."

Ginny stared at him for a moment, her mouth slightly agape, before shaking herself out of her reverie. Right... Well, anyway, the booklists arrived this morning, so we're meeting up with Hermione at Diagon Alley."

"Right, I'll be down in bit."

Ginny pulled her fingers out of his hair, gave him a weak smile, and left the room. Harry fell back onto his pillow and closed his eyes. He wanted to believe everything he'd said; he would have loved nothing more than to be sure that Voldemort was gone for good, but he couldn't. Voldemort had thwarted death too many times for Harry to feel complacent. He was almost sure that he was seeing Voldemort in the afterlife (If you could call it that), but Harry knew that he was fighting with all his might. As much as he hated it, he knew that Ginny was right; there was nothing for it to wait.

He pulled on his clothes and went downstairs to meet the others. Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Ginny were all sitting at the table. "Would you like a spot of breakfast before we leave, dear?" Asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Thanks, but I think I'll just grab something while we're out."

"Well, then I think we're all set!" Without further ado, she reached into a flowerpot on the mantel of the fireplace and pulled out a handful of glittering powder. Harry pocketed his glasses, and prepared for the rather unpleasant sensation of floo powder.

When they arrived at The Leaky Cauldron, the split up; Mrs and Mrs. Weasley left to go visit some shops, while Harry, Ron, and Ginny stayed behind at the pub to wait for Hermione and buy lunch.

As soon as Hermione arrived, Ginny insisted on talking about Harry's dream. Unfortunately for Harry, Hermione seemed to follow Ginny's line of thinking; she drank in his every word with a look of deepest concentration on her face. Once Harry had finished telling his story, she sat in silence for a moment.

"You don't think that he could still be alive, do you?" Asked Harry, struggling to keep his voice free of desperation.

"It's hard to say... Impossible, really." Said Hermione slowly.

"But Dumbledore said that he would be able to die once all of his horcruxes were gone. How could he come back?"

"Harry, you know that you didn't really talk to him right? It was probably just a halluc-" 

"It _wasn't_ a hallucination. I know it."

"Right. Well, anyway, there would've been no way for Dumbledore to know what else he'd done to keep himself alive. What if there was another horcrux?" 

Harry shook his head. "There couldn't have been. I saw into his mind the night I killed him. He thought about them all; those were all he had."

"Hm... Well, anyway, the case of you and him is completely unique. Without any sort of precedent, it would be virtually impossible to predict what could happen. Like Dumbledore said, you two are in unchartered territory, and all of his theories were just that- theories."

Harry felt his heart sink slightly; he'd hoped that Hermione would have some stronger words of comfort; that she would be able to pull out some kind of ironclad reason that Voldemort couldn't come back. The rest of the meal was somewhat uncomfortable; the subject of Voldemort seemed to be looming overhead like a vulture waiting to strike. Even the feel of Ginny's soft hand clasped around his on top of the table couldn't lift Harry's spirits.

The eerie mood dissipated as soon as they entered the fresh air of Diagon Alley. Harry couldn't help but admire the resilience of the wizarding world; the cheery atmosphere had returned, and new shops were cropping up to fill in the gaps left by the businesses that had been closed in the past year.

The first half of the trip went smoothly; Harry bought an advanced broomstick servicing kit to repair his Firebolt (which had been damaged in his escape from Privet Drive the previous year) and a large box of Owl Treats. It wasn't until after they'd stopped by Flourish and Blott's to buy Ginny and Hermione's schoolbooks that they ran into the first unwelcome face of the day.

Harry was leading the way out of Madame Malkin's robes shop when he passed a familiar looking man on the way in. He had sleek blonde hair and a remarkably pale, pointed face; Harry's old school rival, Draco Malfoy.

"Potter." Said Malfoy coldly, nodding carelessly in Harry's direction.

"Malfoy." Without thinking, Harry stuck out his hand. Malfoy looked stunned for a moment, but grudgingly accepted a quick handshake before hurrying on his way.

"You'd think that he'd be a bit more grateful," said Ron, his eyes narrowing in Malfoy's direction, "Seeing how you saved him from life in Azkaban and all. I still reckon you're mental, testifying to get _Malfoy_ out of trouble..."

"Voldemort _did_ threaten him... And after all, if his mother hadn't lied and told Voldemort that I was dead, we might not have been able to beat him."

"Ah, oh well. At least Old Lucius got what was coming to him... Only six months in Azkaban, but it's better than nothing..." Said Ron, while Ginny nodded furiously. She obviously hadn't forgotten Lucius' hand in her being forced to open the Chamber of Secrets in her first year.

The second unpleasant reunion was rather worse than the first. As they walked down the main road, looking in all the windows, Harry felt an unpleasant prickling on the back of his neck. He threw out his arm, catching Ginny by surprise. "What was that for?" She grumbled, rubbing her stomach.

"We're being followed." Harry muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

Ginny, Ron, and Hermione snapped to attention. "Where? Is it Death Eaters?" Said Ron, trying to look backwards without attracting attention.

"Worse." Muttered Harry, discreetly gesturing at a very tall woman with curly blonde hair some ten yards behind them. She was wearing sleek purple robes and carrying a large green quill; she was accompanied by a short man holding a camera. At the moment she was pretending to look in a window display of sun-dried fish scales. As Harry approached her, she turned to face him, a clearly fake look of surprise on her face.

"Harry, what a pleasant surprise running into you here!" Said Rita Skeeter.

"I'll bet." Said Harry sarcastically. "What do you want? Why are you following us?" 

"Following you? I wouldn't dream of it!" Said Skeeter, her phony smile still plastered to her face. "But if you're offering to give an interview-"

"Never again. Especially not after everything that you wrote about Dumbledore last year..."

"Those were pure fact, boy..." She retorted, her grin fading slightly. "Although I wouldn't expect you to know any better."

"As a matter of fact, I do." And without another word, Harry turned and left, checking periodically to make sure that she was no longer following him. "She's got some nerve..." Harry vented.

"Well you can't really be surprised, Harry." Said Hermione wisely. "You're more famous than ever. It only makes sense that the media would want a piece of you. You vanished for about nine months, then appeared out of nowhere and got rid of Voldemort- again. I'd be very surprised if that's the last that we hear from reporters- especially once it gets out that you're teaching at Hogwarts this year."

"Excellent. Just great." Said Harry bitterly. His forays into the limelight rarely went well for him.

"Well, we have everything that we need... I guess it's about time to head home." Said Hermione, hugging Harry and Ginny before leaving to say goodbye to Ron; Harry and Ginny left to meet up with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Author's note: The plot thinnens! It's okay, this stuff could be important later Not a lot to say about this one. Just the usual request to keep an eye out for my grammar and give me a tip if you spot anything wrong.

Just a quick note about timing; last time I wrote a story, I was able to get through about a chapter a day, and I'd hoped to keep up that pace with this story. But I hadn't taken all the planning that I'd have to do here; Rowling's got all the bases covered, and I'd like to play by her rules as much as possible. This means that I have to spend a lot of time thinking up workarounds and whatnot, and I still probably won't get everything perfect.

So to get to the point, what do people prefer? Long chapters that don't come very often, or shorter chapters that can be up daily?

Well what do you know. I guess I did have a lot to say about this one.

**THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER. AT THE MOMENT, MY HIT COUNTER IS AT 391, MEANING THAT THIS CHAPTER SHOULD GIVE ME THE BOOST I NEED TO REACH- WAIT FOR IT- THREE HUNDRED AND NINETY-FOUR. CHA-CHING.**


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: I'm going to start this one with a little bit of a disclaimer. I have no idea what I want to do with this chapter. I have one or two things that I want to happen, but other than that, nothing. So... Yeah. Here goes. This might be a short one, just because I don't have much to say here.

Harry's night terrors continued to trouble him over the next few weeks; it got to the point where he was having them every night, and they were growing increasingly vivid. Most of the time when he woke from the night terrors, he would find Ron or Ginny waiting for him. Every time that Ron saw him having the dream, he would pester Harry for more information, even though it was always the same. Ginny seemed to take a more sympathetic approach. She respected Harry's wishes and left the subject alone, but Harry couldn't help but notice a rather odd expression on her face when he woke up from the nightmares.

Harry and Ginny had grown closer than ever over the past few months; it was almost as though they'd never split up at all. The more Harry thought about it, the more he realized that they never really had; Harry had never given up on Ginny, and she had confessed that she'd sworn to wait for him. Now that they were together again, Harry couldn't even begin to imagine where he'd found the strength to break things off; the thought of having to leave Ginny again was unbearable to him.

These were the types of thoughts that flowed through Harry's mind as he leaned against a tree in the paddock outside the Burrow, with Ginny leaning against his knees and poring over homework. They had managed to sneak away while Ron was busy writing a letter to Hermione, meaning that they could do whatever they wanted without being bothered by his disapproving glares.

"Harry, do you know anything about how honeywater affects a muffling draught?"

"You know that I don't have a clue..."

"Right, I almost forget the way Slughorn keeps going on about you..."

Ginny looked up at Harry, and saw him grin for a second before he gave a strange jerk. She knew almost instantly that something was very wrong; he fell over and began to thrash, repeatedly smashing his head against the tree he'd just been leaning against.

Harry was feeling a strange rush of detached emotions in his head.

_"So close... So close... IT'S MINE!"_

_ Harry felt triumphant for a moment, before pain shot through every fibre of his being. He couldn't bear to exist with this pain; surely it would be the end of him-_

"HARRY! HARRY!"

Harry was lying on the ground, his glasses shattered next to his face. He could see Ginny's blurred outline above him, and he could feel her hands shaking his shoulders. He felt weaker than he ever had in his life, and he could see that he'd vomited.

"Harry, are you alright?" Ginny asked, her voice breaking.

Harry couldn't muster the energy to speak, so he simply nodded slightly. Ginny gulped slightly and collapsed onto his chest. Harry felt his exhaustion slipping away as though she was siphoning it away with her touch. Within a few minutes, he was able to sit up again.

"What was all that about?" Asked Ginny, having composed herself.

"I dunno... He felt stronger... And then something went wrong and it hurt. Bad. Worse than the cruciatus curse..."

"Are you alright?" She asked again. 

"I think I'll make it... I'm just tired."

"Well then... Would you mind...?"

Harry looked over at her, and was embarrassed to see that he'd thrown up on her arm. "Sorry! Hold on a sec..." He pulled out his wand and pointed it at her arm. "Scourgify!" He said. Nothing happened. He tried again.

Ginny's eyes narrowed slightly. "Harry, are you sure that you're alright?"

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on..." He focused with all of his might, and shouted "Scourgify!" One more time. Finally, the spell took effect.

Ginny pulled Harry into a standing position. "You don't look good, we'd better get you home..."

By the time they'd walked back, Harry could nearly walk on his own when they entered the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was busy with dishes.

"Ah, there you two are, I was beginning to- good lord, what happened to you, Harry? You look absolutely dreadful!"

"He's just feeling a bit ill, Mum." Ginny said hurriedly.

"Oh dear... Bed, then! I'll whip up some soup and a bit of pepperup potion, but you'd best go lie down..."

"I'll take him up, Mum." Ginny responded as Harry nodded gratefully.

Harry barely made it to the bedroom; he was still feeling exhausted, and the trip up the stairs seemed to drain what little energy he had. They'd just made it to the bedroom when Ron came crashing through the door.

"There you are! Where on Earth have you two been? You haven't been-"

"Be quiet, Ron!" Said Ginny harshly, gesturing at Harry.

"Blimey! What did you do to _him?_"

"Nothing, I'll tell you about it later."

"Whatever, but where did you get off to? I've been looking for you all-"

Mrs. Weasley's voice from downstairs interrupted him. "RON COME DOWN HERE FOR A MOMENT!" For a moment Ron looked like he was going to ignore her, but seemed to decide that he didn't dare. He slunk out of the room.

As soon as he was gone, Ginny turned to Harry. "Listen, I think that I'll write to Hermione and tell her about this- don't look at me like that, she should know. And Ron too. I'm not going to force you to tell them, but I'm not going to keep secrets. You should know by now that we're here to help you Harry, and I think they might be able to help you figure out what's going on."

Harry nodded slowly. He knew that she was right, but he still had some reservations. He felt that he'd put his friends through enough in the past year alone, and didn't want to worry them when he wasn't even sure that there was reason to panic.

Ron came back into the room carrying a tea tray loaded with a bowl of soup and a potion vial. "Merlin's pants, you'd think you were dying, the way she goes on about it... Anyway, here you go. Harry took a sip of the pepperup potion, and felt strength return to him.

"Excellent! That's loads better! … What are you laughing at?"

Ginny had covered her mouth to muffle her giggling, but it hadn't gone unnoticed. "You're smoking." She said, pointing slightly above his head. Sure enough, when Harry looked up, there was a cloud of thick steam flowing out of his ears gathering above his head.

"Never mind that, what did you want?" Harry said quickly, turning to Ron.

"Wha- Oh yeah! I was going to ask if either of you've seen the paper today!"

"Nah, I never bothered to renew my subscription after last year... Load of dragon dung. What's the point of reading if you never know when they're telling the truth?"

"Well, I reckon you might've been right, but still, you've got to see this one..."

He handed over the paper to Ginny, who adjusted herself so Harry could read too.

Has Harry Potter found love at last?

Daily Prophet correspondent and bestselling biographer Rita Skeeter has unearthed new information on the next chapter of the life of tragic hero Harry Potter. She reports that he seems to have found happiness in the form of Ginevra Molly Weasley, the only daughter of the notorious Muggle-lover Arthur Weasley.

However, Potter's devoted fans must have questions about the character of his new love, as he has been known to have been quite unlucky in love, having been burned by both of his previous girlfriends, Hermione Granger and Cho Chang. To obtain this info, I talked to a former Hogwarts peer of Ms. Weasley's, who wished to remain anonymous. In her words, "She's very pretty, but cold as ice. She likes boys, that one. And she knows how to get them, to." Reports confirm that Ms. Weasley has had at least five boyfriends in the past two years, a fact that does not bode well for Harry Potter. We can only hope that Harry is spared heartbreak again in his quest to find someone worthy of his affections.

Rita Skeeter's Biography of Harry Potter will hit shelves later this year.

"I knew that she was up to something." Said Harry gloomily, looking at the picture accompanying the story. It showed him holding hands with Ginny at the Leaky Cauldron. "She must have been following us all day..."

"Well, it was bound to get out eventually." Said Ginny bracingly. "And look on the bright side; a Rita Skeeter biography! Most people have to wait until after they're dead for that!"

Harry cracked a grin. If Ginny was okay with it, he supposed he could be too. At least the article was about something positive this time. They talked for several minutes before Ron and Ginny left, leaving Harry to drift into a peaceful and dreamless sleep.

Author's note: Not the best, but it gets the job done. This chapter might get some edits later.

There's only so much plot that I want to get through at this point, there's a good amount of useless fluff. Sue me.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: I'm thinking this is where things could start to get interesting. Maybe. I don't really know. This seems like a good time to explain what I'd like to do here; at the present, my plan is to follow the template that J.K. Rowling set and have a series, with each installment covering a year. I doubt that any of my stories will make it to full novel length, mostly due to my lack of storyboarding and polish in general. Nothing's set in stone, though. Knowing me, this'll probably end up being far too ambitious. Also, I think that updating every other day is working well for me, so I'll try to stick with it.

Harry's nightmares seemed to subside after the incident in the paddock. As the Summer came to a close, the dreams slipped to the back of his mind; he had enough to think about, with lessons to plan. He'd decided that he'd be best off focusing on defensive spells, as they were his clear strong point; he figured that he knew enough about dark creatures to discuss them, and hopefully Hermione could help him work out the rest.

Before he knew it, September First had arrived and it was time to return to Hogwarts once again. Harry went with the Weasleys to the platform to see Ginny off; he would be appartating to the castle instead of taking the Hogwarts Express.

As soon as they'd arrived, Harry realized how much he'd missed Hogwarts in his year on the run. It was like meeting an old friend again; Platform 9¾ had been one of his first experiences in the Wizarding World, and he was very glad to be back again.

Harry's arrival on the platform was very well received; many of his old peers greeted him warmly, evidently unaware that he would soon be teaching them. He even met up with some of his former classmates, including Dean Thomas and Justin Finch-Fletchey, who would be returning to Hogwarts to make up the last year that Death Eater law had prevented them from attending.

Finally, the whistle signaling the train's imminent departure rang out. Ginny hugged her mother and father goodbye, and then turned to Harry. She kissed him on the cheek, whispered "See you soon," in his ear, and with a wink she was gone, followed by Hermione. Harry watched the train fade away, before turning on the spot to apparate.

Harry looked around his office; he'd spent the past hour moving his things in, and he had finally managed to adjust the room to his liking. He'd hung several posters of his favorite quidditch teams, and some showing the proper use of some of his most commonly used spells. He'd filled a good portion of his desk with trinkets that he'd acquired through the years; a piece of a broken mirror, a golden snitch that was split down the middle, a small scale model of a dragon, the Marauder's Map, and a letter from his mother to his godfather, Sirius Black, to name a few.

He looked around proudly; he couldn't see a trace of the room's two previous occupants, neither of whom he had any desire to remember. Looking at his watch, he could see that it was about time for the students to begin arriving; he began the trip down to the Great Hall to join the opening feast.

The Great Hall with it's beautiful transparent ceiling and four House tables inspired the same feeling within Harry that Platform 9¾ had; he felt as though he was finally at home after a very long journey.

As soon as he entered, Harry spotted Hagrid waving at him from the staff table, an enormous grin on his face. He was gesturing at an empty seat between himself and Professor Sprout. Harry ran forward to take the seat. "Welcome ter the big boy's table, 'Arry! Ne'er yeh'd be up here, did yeh?"

"Never." Said Harry, smiling broadly. Their conversation carried on until Harry heard his name being called from the other side of Professor Sprout. Craning to look at the source of the interruption, and was surprised to see- "Neville! What on Earth are _you_ doing up here?"

Professor Sprout's taken me on as an assistant!" Said Neville Longbottom, smiling proudly. "She and Professor McGonagall've given me permission to take over the position of Herbology professor when she retires!"

"That's brilliant, Neville! That's really-" at that moment, a huge rumble of sound made it nearly impossible for them to hear each other; the students had arrived. They filed in, chatting merrily as they made their way to their respective table. Harry instantly picked out Ginny; she was talking animatedly with a girl with long, dirty-blonde hair and startlingly wide blue eyes. Harry waved to get their attention, and they both waved back before the blonde girl left to sit at the Ravenclaw table.

As the hall filled, Harry became aware that he was attracting a great number of stares from the students. Suddenly, he felt very small compared to Hagrid and the other teachers.

As soon as all the students had taken their seats, Professor McGonagall stood and cleared her throat; the hall fell silent immediately. "Welcome," said, with an unusual amount of warmth in her voice, "to another year at Hogwarts! Without further delay, we shall proceed to the sorting!"

She waved her wand, and the lights in the room went down. The doors opened, and a trail of terrified looking first years entered, led by tiny Professor Flitwick, whom Harry supposed must have replaced Professor Mcgonagall as Deputy Headmaster.

Harry watched the first years being sort with some amount of nostalgia; it seemed as though his own sorting had been a part of a different lifetime, albeit a much simpler one. So much had happened since his first year... And never could have foreseen that it would all lead him here...

Harry's musings carried on well through the sorting; he barely noticed when food appeared out of nowhere on his plate. Harry became steadily more uncomfortable throughout the meal. The pointing and muttering continued, and he was beginning to wonder if he had been mad to take this job. He wasn't a teacher, what had he been thinking? He didn't know anything about teaching...

"And finally, I ask you to give a warm welcome to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Harry Potter."

The room was silent for a moment. Harry hadn't even noticed Professor Mcgonagall beginning the start of term notices. He stood up cautiously. Suddenly, the room exploded with cheering, most of it coming from the Gryffindor table, and very little coming from Slytherin. Harry waved nervously and sat down quickly so Professor Mcgonagall could continue with her speech.

"Finally, I'd like to remind everyone that the forest on the edge of the grounds is out-of-bounds to all students, with _no exceptions._ Now off to bed with all of you."

Harry's first lessons went much more smoothly than he'd expected; as he had little experience with teaching students to control magic, he decided that it would be best to explain theory to the first years.

"So... Right. There are three types of spells that we'll be covering: jinxes, hexes, and curses. Jinxes will be the primary focus this year; they tend to be simple and not very dangerous. Hexes can be useful too, as they're more powerful than jinxes but, still never deadly. And I doubt that we'll be discussing many curses, as they can be very risky."

The class eventually devolved into a question and answer session about Harry's misadventures. Harry wasn't particularly fond of retelling these stories, but he hoped that they would motivate the students.

Harry started the rest of classes with disarming; he found that a disturbing number of even his fourth year students had little experience with the spell. Though they learned quickly, Harry made a mental note to make sure that he covered the basics.

Harry's final lesson of the day was with the second year Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students. He started the lesson the way he had all the others; he introduced the incantation, and instructed them to pair off and practice. One boy was left over; a rather scrawny boy by the name of Phil Arsenault.

"Alright, you can practice with me." Said Harry. The boy fidgeted a little. "It's alright, come on." Harry relaxed himself; he was sensing a distinct lack of confidence, and he didn't want to make the spell any more difficult than it needed to be.

At that moment, a number of things happened. Harry felt as if he was falling into a trance. He felt victorious, like he was being lifted out of his body, nothing could stop him- Meanwhile, he heard Phil shout, as if from very far away "EXPELLATUS!"

Harry couldn't recover himself in time. He felt the spell hit him directly in the chest; he felt a rather unpleasant sensation running over his lungs. He couldn't breathe; he fell to the floor, landing hard on his back. He heard shrill screaming, as his vision narrowed and everything faded to black.

Author's Note: The goal was to have this up around 9 (Eastern US Time), but the pull of Lego Batman: The Video Game and NCIS marathons were too strong. But what's six hours in the long run? Anyway, I'm thinking that I'll start posting some updates/ estimated times on my profile page.

Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or comments about the story; I'm pretty open to new ideas and thoughts.

Is it just me or am I seriously abusing semicolons?

VEGETA! WHAT DOES THE SCOUTER SAY ABOUT THE WORD COUNT?

IT'S OVER 9000!

WHAT? 9000?


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: This is probably going to be on the short side. I probably won't have much time tomorrow, but I didn't finish up the last one too neatly, and I hate to leave people hanging.

When Harry awakened, the first thing he noticed was a remarkably tight feeling in his chest; the second was that he was completely unable to breathe. He felt panic creeping through his body, surely he was going to suffocate, then-

"Madam Pomfrey, he's waking up!"

Harry heard a door fly open, and then footsteps rushing towards him. He saw Madam Pomfrey standing over him, and felt a potion being tipped into his mouth. As soon as it had passed his throat, he felt all of his muscles relax, and calm flowed though his mind. Madam Pomfrey grabbed him by the chin and turned his head so he was looking directly into his eyes. "Listen carefully. There's no need to panic. Everything's fine, I've suppressed your autonomic breathing, but you'll have to stay overnight. You'll be fine, you don't need to worry about your breathing, do you understand.

Harry nodded slowly; as he did, he felt a painful cracking in his robes. Looking down, he could see that his robes were stained with blood.

"Excellent," Said Madam Pomfrey, "but it would be best if you didn't move too much... You konw, I should have known that I hadn't seen the last of you, Mr. Potter. First day of term, too! I expect that that must be some sort of record, even for yourself..." She continued to mutter as she hustled back to her office.

Harry looked around; he was once again in the school's hospital wing. Ginny was sitting on a chair next to his bed, surrounded by a small mound of books. "Good to see you're awake." She said brightly. "Hermione was here earlier, but she said she needed the library, she'll probably be back in a bit. So, I expect you've enjoyed your first day back?"

Harry tried to respond, but found that he couldn't seem to speak. His just heaved, but the only result was a sharp pain in his chest.

"Oh no, I forgot!" She rummaged around her bag and pulled out a quill and a bit of parchment. "You really shouldn't be trying to talk..."

Harry grabbed the quill and scribbled out _'What happened?'_ as fast as he could.

"Well, there was a bit of an accident in the classroom... Judging by what the other kids said, the boy you were practicing with messed up the incantation, and... Well, he ended up ejecting a good bit of your ribcage. I don't think- No! You really don't want to do that-"

But Harry had already ripped open the front of his robes and was looking at his bare chest. It didn't look remotely familiar; it was sunken and deformed, and he could almost see the outlines of some of his organs. He didn't write anything on the parchment, but his revolted expression seemed to say enough.

"If I were you," said Ginny gently, "I'd write the incantation on the board next time. From what I heard, it was quite messy. At least when Lockhart did your arm, it was neat... It seems like this time, it actually popped out of place and onto the floor. Madam Pomfrey had to give calming droughts to about half the class. She gave you a dose of skele-gro while you were out. And don't mess with that!" She said sternly, slapping his hand away from his chest. "If you mess with it, she'll have to set it again."

At that moment, they were interrupted by Hermione, who bustled in carrying a very large armful of difficult looking books. "I'm so sorry, Harry! I wanted to stay, but I've got loads of homework to do!" She looked quite stressed indeed; her bushy hair seemed to be standing on end, giving her the appearance of a very startled lion. She sat down in the chair next to Ginny, and immediately busied herself writing.

"So... What happened?" Asked Ginny. Harry gave her a puzzled look; hadn't she just explained it? She waved her hand irritably. Not that, not that. Why didn't you block the spell? Surely you must have realized when he used the wrong incantation. And stop messing with your ribs."

Harry scribbled down _'Got distracted.'_

"Distracted? By what?" Ginny's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Harry thought for a moment, and came to the conclusion that it would be useless to lie. He tapped his scar. He was suddenly aware that Hermione's quill had stopped scratching.

"But... what does that mean?" Hermione said thoughtfully. "Was it the same as last time?"

Harry shook his head. _'He was happy.'_

Ginny's eyes widened, but Hermione simply sighed. "That's what I was afraid of..." Harry looked at her curiously. "Don't you see it, Harry? Ginny?" They exchanged confused looks. "Honestly! If he's happy, that means he isn't wherever he was before. Remember, he was in constant pain there? I've been worried about this since you mentioned that the connection hadn't closed. So it can only mean one thing, really... Voldemort isn't dead."

The three of them exchanged gloomy looks. "But it might not be that bad..." Hermione continued. "He's got to be weak... He might stay down for a while. And odds are that he doesn't have a body right now, so he must be in a similar position to before he recreated his last body... And creating a body isn't easy. So there's still hope."

Harry could see through her desperate reasoning. Voldemort had never been stopped by such logic before, and Harry doubted that he would now. However, he saw no reason to disturb Hermione and Ginny's peace of mind, as there was no action to be taken until Voldemort made some move to reveal himself.

"It'll be fine, Harry. We're with you all the way." Said Ginny quietly. "No matter what happens." She slowly reached out and wrapped her hand around his. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Hermione smiling slightly as she silently packed up her books and left the room. Ginny rested her head on the side of Harry's bed, and they stayed in silence until it was time for lights out, and Madam Pomfrey came to rush her out of the room.

Author's Note: Well, I hope this is good enough. I think I've cleared up a lot here, but there are still mysteries to unravel and more strange events to unfold.

I caught myself making a lot of mistakes, and I'm sure that more than a few managed to slip under the radar. So if you spot any, I'd really appreciate it if you could contact me about them so I don't come across as a blithering idiot.

Anyway, glad I got this out of the way early, as it leaves me to spend the day haunting the streets as Batman. Halloween is the best. So until next time, Narf out.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: This is a bit of a filler chapter, sort of a placeholder while I work on the next one. I've been working on it at the same time, but it's still a bit foggy, and this seemed like a good time to practice a bit of comic relief.

Harry awoke in the middle of the night with a painful and tight feeling in his chest. He immediately realized two things. The first was that he seemed to have regained some control over his breathing, which he was immensely grateful for. The second was that someone was tenderly running their fingers through his hair. Assuming that Ginny had somehow managed to sneak out of bed to come and see him, he smiled contentedly to himself. That is, until he heard a deep, croaking voice that most definitely did not belong to Ginny.

"Oh, my poor Master."

"What in the-" Harry gasped, nearly jumping out of his skin. "Kreacher?"

"Kreacher is most apologetic for disturbing Master Harry's sleep, but he had to come..."

An ugly, ancient House-Elf was standing on a chair beside Harry's bed, wringing his hands.

"It's... It's fine, Kreacher. Just... What are you doing here?"

"Kreacher heard from the other Elves in the kitchen that Master had been most grievously injured, and he needed to see for himself... Poor Master Harry..."

"I'm fine, Kreacher, I'm not dying or-"

But upon hearing the word 'dying,' Kreacher burst into tears.

"Calm down, Kreacher. Madam Pomfrey said that I'd be fine by morning, there's nothing to worry about."

Kreacher's sobs subsided, but he continued to shake.

"Listen, Kreacher... Why don't you take the day off?"

Kreacher gasped as though mortally offended. "Oh, no, Master Harry! Kreacher is sorry, and he can continue to work!"

"Um... Yeah. Sure, if you want..." Said Harry, wondering if he'd ever understand the House-Elf's behavior.

"Thank you very much, Master Harry, and a speedy recovery to you!" Said Kreacher gratefully. With a crack, the Elf was gone, leaving Harry alone to struggle to fall asleep through the uncomfortable sensation of bones growing in his chest.

Harry felt entirely better by the next morning (despite the fact that his ribs now made an ugly crunching noise whenever he rotated his torso) and returned to teaching class despite Madam Pomfrey's protests. Eventually he managed to convince her that all of his bones had fully regrown, and she reluctantly allowed him to leave. By the end of the day, he was wondering if he should have heeded her advice and stayed in the hospital wing.

His third lesson of the day was the one that he'd been dreading the most of all; his seventh year N.E.W.T. Class. Of all of his classes, this one would contain the most of his former peers, and he figured that it would be the one that he would have the most difficulty controlling. As it turned out, he wasn't wrong in the least.

As soon as the class filed into the classroom, Harry realized that he'd made a mistake, in the confusion of the previous day, he'd entirely forgotten that any N.E.W.T. Class was unlikely to not know how to disarm. His worst fears were confirmed when he asked the class to raise their hands if they knew the spell; every hand flew into the air. _'You should have known...'_ Harry berated himself, remembering how he'd taught a good few of them the spell in Dumbledore's Army.

"If you're not sure what to teach us," said Luna Lovegood, who was sharing a desk in the front row with Ginny and Hermione, "might I make a suggestion?"

"Er... Yeah, I don't see why not." Said Harry warily.

"Well, I think..." Luna began, with the air of building suspense, "that you should teach us how to fight off Abbacoochie."

"I'm sorry... Fight off... What did you just say?"

"Abbacoochie." Luna continued dreamily. Honestly, I would have thought that you would have know being a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and all."

Hermione rolled her eyes, and Ginny lowered her head to hide her giggling, although she was still visibly shaking.

"Alright then... What exactly _is_ an Abbacoochie?" Asked Harry, forgetting for a moment that he was supposed to be directing the class.

"They're powerful dark creatures, Daddy told me all about them. They look like monkeys with beaks, and they're about ten inches tall, but they're known to wrestle Manticores!" Said Luna in one breath, her eyes widening. At this point, Hermione was staring at Luna with puzzled disbelief etched in every line of her face, and Ginny was clearly struggling not to fall out of her chair from laughter.

"Oh, well, I think-" Harry started, realizing all too late what was happening.

"The Ministry imported them for experiments, but they escaped into the wild, And the only way to subdue them is to break the special shield charms it protects itself with, using a special hex that Daddy invented, it goes _'Unkuratis!'_

Before Harry knew what was going on, the whole class had began to practice the charm, using it to break through each other's shield charms. It wasn't the way he'd intended to spend the lesson, but he supposed that it was better than nothing. He'd had too much experience with Luna Lovegood and her father to believe that he would ever need the charm to fight off an Abbacoochie, but there was no doubt that the spell was effective enough as a shield-breaker. Shaking his head slightly, Harry resigned himself and began to pick apart the spell for himself.

Author's note: Gotta love those oddballs.

I've been meaning to start addressing some of the people leaving reviews, so here goes nothing;

Evans/Starzinmieyez: I love Ginny too, but she's a pain to write, it turns out. You have to give J.K. Rowling some props there. She really has sort of a tough but sweet character, and it can be tricky to find a balance. And I wouldn't worry too much about Harry, he's been through worse. I didn't actually intend it to be painful, just a bit repulsive. I actually imagined the process feeling a bit like a cold underwater pulse, if that makes any sense. Of course, the really painful thing is regrowing the bones. Can't be fun, what with the ribcage being right there with the lungs.

So... Someday I'll come up with witty chapter titles. But alas, not today.

One more quick word about the next chapter. I'm not sure when it might be ready, but if it takes too long, I can at least put out another chapter like this one. So we'll see how things go. Until next time, my friends.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: As always, feel free to drop me a line through reviews or private messages. Corrections, theories, comments in general, I love 'em all.

Harry nearly made it until the end of the week. He managed to get his first years started with disarming charms, and reassured a traumatized Phil Arsenault that he wouldn't be held responsible for his mistake. It wasn't until his final lesson of the week (once again, his Seventh Year N.E.W.T. Class) that he once again encountered trouble.

"Alright, that was good work last time, and that was a great spell, Luna, But I reckon that it'd be best if we get back on track for this lesson." He said quickly, not giving Luna a chance to speak and derail the lesson once again. "Hopefully this'll be a bit of a review, but I'd like to talk about the Reductor Curse a bit; it's basic, but essential. The incantation is 'reducto,' and the wand motion is a sharp downward flick. I think the best way to test this one would be individually, I don't want my classroom turned to dust. So, Justin, you can start. Remember, I want it done nonverbally."

The class did well with the spell; it was enough to make Harry wonder how much he would be able to actually teach them. After all, he was no older than some of them... He made a mental note to ask Hermione about some more difficult spells.

"Excellent work, Fern." Harry said. "A bit more practice and you'll be set. Ginny, you're up next."

Ginny stood up and moved to face the desk that Harry had set up for practice. She shook her long hair out of her face and whipped her wand at the desk; there was a violent flash of bright light, and the desk was reduced to a pile of dust.

"Perfect, Ginny!" Said Harry, impressed. "Full marks... And five points for Gryffindor!" He added, remembering that he now had the power to award house points.

As Ginny strode back to her seat, a lofty, dissenting voice carried from the back of the room. "Well, I suppose being the teacher's girlfriend _does_ have it's perks..." Ginny froze in mid-step. The speaker was a very tall Slytherin girl with blonde hair and dark eyes.

"What did you just say, Nott?" Ginny said with an air of forced calm.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to hear." Nott said unconvincingly. "After all, I wouldn't want to offend the teacher's favorite pet."

"Hey, that's enough-" Harry started to say, before he was interrupted by a derisive laugh from Ginny.

"Some of don't actually_ need_ to kiss up to teachers to do well, if you get my drift."

"Well, not all of us have the advantage of your... Erm... _'Private study sessions_.'"

"Well, maybe you'd have bit of luck if you tried studying on your own, although, I suppose you do pretty well considering the Death Eater troll you've got for a father... How's Azkaban suiting him, by the way?"

"Come on, sto- HEY!" Harry saw Nott's wand raise, and then Ginny's, and had only a split second to react. Fortunately, he'd been prepared; "IMMOBULUS!" He shouted, and girls froze. "Um... Class dismissed... Look, I can't have dueling in my classroom... I'm giving you both detention."

Harry celebrated the first Saturday of the term at the Three Broomsticks with Hagrid and Ron, who had apparated to Hogsmeade to visit. Hermione and Ginny had wanted to come, but as students, they were only allowed to leave the castle on designated weekends.

"Ah, well. Still be'er than my firs' week, I reckon. Things'll get easier once you get the hang of things, learn how to keep everybody in check 'n' all." Hagrid was saying. "Yeh know, yer not the only one havin' trouble this year. Yeh met Professor Rigby yet? No? Well, bless him, the poor fellow's got his work cut out for 'im. Can yeh imagine tryin' ter teach kids about Muggle Studies after all the lies those Death Eater scum was bandyin' about all last year? From what I've heard, the kids are walkin' all over him. The fellow's just too nice fer his own good, yeh know?"

"That reminds me, "Said Ron, "Who did McGonagall find to take over for her?"

"Some witch goin' by the name 'Baines.' Don' know much abou' her ter be honest. Doesn't talk much. An' ol' Professor Vector is Head of Gryffindor now."

"I still don't understand why she didn't just make Harry head. I bet he could do it."

"No offense ter Harry, but I'm not sure he's up to it yet... There's a lot to be done, after all. Lots o' career counselin' an' the like that the heads have to take care of. It's a lot o' responsibility, takin' care o' that many students." Said Hagrid sagely, taking a swig of firewhiskey.

"You've got to admire his nerve though, eh? Putting Ginny in detention... I wouldn't have dared." Said Ron over his butterbeer.

"I dunno." Said Harry slowly. "I mean, she didn't seem too angry about it..."

"Ev'rythin'll be fine, Harry. You were just doin' what needed ter be done, after all. Teahin' ain't easy, yeh know. Hard to appreciate it until you've done it... But I'd bet that you'll be fine after jus' a bit o' practice.

"Yeah, well you can never tell with girls, can you? Mental, the whole lot of them." Said Ron cautiously. "You know, I'm not really sure that she's forgiven me for telling Mum on her for tipping her cauldron over when she was six, so I'd watch your back if I were you."

Ginny arrived in Harry's room for her Detention at seven o'clock that same evening. Harry pointed at a stack of Homework papers on his desk. "Alright, I'd like you to sort these, alphabetical by last name.

She stared at him. "Really, Harry? That's the best you could think of? Sorting a stack of papers?"

"Lay off, you know that I haven't had any practice. And besides, it's not supposed to be too harsh..."

"I still can't believe that you actually put me in detention..."

"What was I supposed to do? Let you start a duel in the middle of my classroom? Some precedent that would set, _'Get in the teacher's good-books and he'll let you jinx anybody you like."_

"Fine, I can understand that, but you couldn't have waited half a second?"

"So you could have cursed each other? Brilliant!"

"Oh, come on, Harry. You know that I'm way faster than her. You could have at least waited until I'd gotten a good hex in to step in."

"You're really not catching on to this whole 'sending a message' thing I'm going for, are you?"

"Fine, I'll behave... But only because you're my favorite teacher." She beamed at him, and he smiled despite himself. "You know... Maybe she wasn't that far off after all."

When Ginny left Harry's office two hours later, his papers were still unsorted.

Author's Note: Blech. Mush. But if that's your cup of tea...

I missed my goal by a few hours, but I don't think anyone really cares. I was expecting this to be a really long one, but it didn't even hit three pages. Go figure. Anyway, this is another one that could be slated for some rewrites.

Is Hagrid's dialogue too difficult to understand? I really love writing for his voice, and I think I get a bit carried away sometimes.

It's good to finally be posting at a time that's not 4 AM.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: So... I realized when I sat down to write this, I had no idea where to go. So, I went to the extreme, and... I made a storyboard. That's radical, right there. Anyways, I was looking through the old chapters, and I noticed a disturbing lack of excitement. So it's about time I got the ball rolling. And I mean it this time. For real. Maybe.

As the days passed, Harry's lessons seemed to get progressively better. After several weeks, even his first year students had a decent grip on disarming, and his sixth and seventh years were showing so much promise that he was thinking about teaching them to conjure Patronuses.

The downside to the passage of time was the looming examinations that would take place at the end of the year. Harry found that he had less and less time to spend with Ginny. She was spending hours every night preparing for her N.E.W.T.s, and Harry was spending even more time grading papers. As a result, they could usually only meet for short times late at night.

It was on one such night that they sat on Harry's couch in his office, staring blankly into the fire. They hadn't spoken much, but enjoyed each other's company all the same.

"Harry..." Said Ginny suddenly, lifting her head off his shoulder.

"Wha?" Harry mumbled, waking up from a peaceful doze.

"You haven't mentioned those... Dream... Things lately. Have they stopped?"

"Yeah... I guess so." Said Harry. As the weeks went by with no further sign of the nightmares, he'd pushed them to the back of his mind. "It could have been nothing. Maybe just some kind of a PTSD type thing." He continued, trying to convince himself as much as her.

"Hm. Maybe." she said, but she didn't seem convinced.

"Oh, damn..." Harry said, looking down at his watch; it was much later than he'd realized. "Must've lost track of time. I'd hate to think about what would happen if Filch caught you out this late... I probably shouldn't, but there's nothing for it." He walked over to his desk and opened a locked drawer, pulling out an ancient and yellowed piece of parchment; the Marauder's Map that showed every detail of Hogwarts. "Take it, and watch out for Filch. And please, go _straight to bed._"

Ginny winked at him. "Of course. Where else would I go at this time of night, anyway?"

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but decided that he didn't need to know. "Right, I'll see you at the Halloween Feast tomorrow night then." He kissed her one more time, and she left.

Harry thoroughly enjoyed the next day's lessons; the second years were able to adequately stun, And the third and fourth years were making rapid progress with the impediment jinx. He hadn't expected that they would be so receptive to his teaching; perhaps it wasn't as difficult as Lockhart had made it seem? _'In any case'_ he thought as he passed through the Entrance Hall on his way to the feast, _'I'd better find some new spells, at this rate I'll be out by Christmas..'_

"Heya, Harry!" Harry whirled around to see Hagrid, carrying an enormous pumpkin of at least six feet in height.

"Wow, Hagrid!" Said Harry, taking in the details of the ornately carved Jack-o-lanterns scattered throughout the hall. Some were carved with pictures of beasts and monsters that actually moved; others had eerie faces that let out booming cackles every so often. "Did you make all of these yourself?"

"Not quite." Said Hagrid, chuckling at the look of amazement on Harry's face. "I grew 'em an' carved 'em up, an' good ol' Professor Flitwick put some fancy charms on 'em. Whaddaya think?"

"You've outdone yourself this year, Hagrid! These are brilliant!"

"Ah, it was nothin'," Hagrid muttered, blushing slightly. "Anyway, why don't we go grab a bite? The feast oughta be startin' any minute now."

The Halloween feast was excellent as usual. The Elves in the kitchen had pulled out all the stops as usual. Harry chatted merrily with Hagrid and Neville through most of the meal, talking about everything from lesson plans to Quidditch league standings.

"I still don' see why they did it." Hagrid was saying. "The Quidditch World Cup's been held every four years since ferever. It's jus' tradition."

"Yeah, but it makes sense to make some changes now, after all." Neville countered. "What with all the Death Eater stuff going on, they could hardly hold it last year, so that's a four year season down the drain. Anyways, it gives the teams more opportunities to refresh. Get some new blood on the team every year instead of every four years."

"Yeah, bu' that's what the minor leagues is fer, ain't it? You want a championship every year, then go an' watch the Tornadoes. But havin' the World Cup every year... Jus' makes it seem less special, yeh know? Hm, I wonder what that scoundrel's been up to now?"

Harry looked up from his treacle tart. Filch was galloping across the hall, attracting a rather large amount of giggling from the student body. Harry, on the other hand, thought Filch looked rather grim; Harry hadn't seen him so white since Mrs. Norris had been found petrified.

He dashed around the table, stopping behind Professor McGonagall's chair. He leaned in to whisper urgently in her ear, still gasping to catch his breath. Professor Mcgonagall's lips thinned as she listened to him. Finally, she nodded grimly and placed her head in her fingertips as though deep in thought. After a moment, she raised her head and stood.

She clapped her hands once, and every face in the hall turned toward her. "If all prefects would please report to me immediately." The prefects stood up and bustled toward the teachers' table as muttering built up among the students. All of the teachers moved to gather around Professor McGonagall.

"I'm not entirely sure how to say this, but... Mr. Filch has informed me that he believes his cat has spotted a Lethifold."

The teachers began to gasp and mutter, and Harry felt swoop of dread in his stomach. He'd read a bit about Lethifolds in one of the books about dark magic that Hermione had given to him, and from the sound of it, it was a creature that even Hagrid couldn't love.

"Now... As I'm sure most of you know," Professor McGonagall continued, "Lethifolds are powerful creatures, and it seems worth reminding you all that the only way to repel them is with the Patronus Charm. As most students will be unable to produce a Patronus powerful enough to ward off a Lethifold, it would be wise to move them to the safety of the Common Rooms. And remember, the Lethifold will usually seek out soundly sleeping victims, I'm assigning the Heads of House and Prefects to stand guard outside the Common Rooms. No one is to enter the dormitories. The rest of you will patrol Castle to try find the beast. On second thought, Neville, Harry, and Cecilia- search the dungeons. Hagrid, check the grounds. If anybody finds any students straggling, send them along immediately. Don't try to take it on alone; send for help if at all possible... Morris, Argus, take the entrance and first floor... Well, get going, then! We haven't any time to waste!"

Harry dashed away toward the dungeons, followed by Professor Slughorn and a witch that he assumed must be Professor Baines, the new transfiguration teacher.

"A Lethifold, eh?" Neville said. "Awfully strange... Anyway, I guess we'd best split up."

Harry and Professor Baines nodded, and they each took separate paths into the dark dungeon. Harry lit the tip off his wand, and cautiously made his way deeper into the dungeons, keeping a close eye out for any shadows moving on the wall. He wished that he'd had the Marauder's Map; the dungeons were very large, and Harry had made it a point to avoid them as much as possible during his school career.

After about ten minutes of wandering, he reached a dead end. He checked the corners of his room to make sure that the Lethifold wasn't hiding in the shadows, and then turned around.

He'd barely taken a step when he felt his mind go blank. He heard fading footsteps, then a strange rushing noise, then nothing.

_'HARRY POTTER IS MINE AT LAST!'_

Harry felt the energy leaving his body and mind, and he began to relax. He suddenly felt a strange inner piece, until-

"HARRY, WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Harry suddenly snapped to attention, and became aware that he was lying on the dungeon floor. There was a smothering weight on his chest, as though he was under a heavy, cold blanket. The uncomfortable sensation sent a shiver down his spine. He looked at his torso, but it was covered by a featureless, dark shroud. All too late he realized that the Lethifold was sitting on his chest and tried to throw it off., but his movement had alerted the creature to the fact that he was awake. It rushed forward to cover his face. Suddenly, he couldn't breathe or speak. He'd never conjured a Patronus nonverbally before, but he couldn't think of any other way out. He struggled to point his wand upwards, and thought _'Expecto Patronum,' _but nothing happened. He tried twice more, but to no avail. He couldn't do it; he was going to die... He once again began to relax, and his head slipped to the side.

What he saw shocked him; Ginny and Hermione were both right there, staring at him. Seeing their faces gave him the motivation that he needed. He pulled together the last of his remaining concentration, and though _'EXPECTO PATRONUM!'_ Finally, the familiar silvery stag erupted from the end of his wand. The Lethifold's weight suddenly lifted, and Harry could breathe once more. He took a deep breath of fresh air, and cast the charm again. The stag speared the Lethifold, and it seemed to writhe in pain before fading into nothing.

Harry slowly stood up. He hadn't been hallucinating; Ginny and Hermione were indeed staring at him, their faces pressed against a sheet of glass that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. He staggered over to it, signaled for Ginny and Hermione to move out of the way, and punched the glass, shattering it into a million pieces which vanished into thin air.

"Good job, Harry, we couldn't get in." Said Ginny. "That wall must have been charmed to be unbreakable from the outside."

"But... What? Who would do that?" Harry asked, dumbstruck.

"I don't know Harry, but this is serious." Said Hermione, looking around nervously. "Harry, I think somebody just tried to kill you!"

Harry still hadn't recovered from nearly suffocating, and this was a lot of information for him to take in at once. "I... What?"

"I don't know, Harry, but you'd better send a message to Professor McGonagall."

"Right, right." Harry Focused as hard as he could, and thought. _'Found the Lethifold in the dungeons- killed it.'_ and conjured a Patronus to carry the message to Professor McGonagall.

"Right, we'd better get you back to your office." Said Ginny, moving to help support him.

As soon as Harry was settled on his couch, they began to discuss the night's events.

"So..." Harry began. "How did you two know where I was?"

"We figured something fishy was going on, so we followed you." Said Ginny simply, pulling the Marauder's Map from one of her pockets. "What was that all about, anyway?"

"Mrs. Norris said she saw a Lethifold. McGonagall sent the teachers to track it down." He saw the two girls exchange significant looks. "What is it?"

"Harry, Lethifolds aren't indigenous to Scotland." Said Hermione. "As a matter of fact, they typically only live in tropical climates."

"And if you pair that with the fact that it managed to find _you_-" Ginny started.

"On the anniversary of the day that Voldemort let a troll in seven years ago." Harry cut in, catching on."

"Exactly, Harry." Said Hermione. "On top of all that, there's that glass wall. Somebody put that there to stop anyone from getting to you. Why didn't you fight it off when you first saw it, anyway? Was it a curse?"

"I don't think so. I just remember my mind going blank. Then I heard Ginny shout at me, and I snapped back."

"Either way, Harry, there's something really odd going on here, and I think that you should be careful. Quite frankly, I think that you're lucky to be alive tonight."

"Yeah, well... What else is new."

Author's note: Alright, this one took a while, so I'm cutting it off at four pages because 5 AM and I've been writing since midnight. I'll probably end up going back to do some rewrites here, because I know I'm forgetting something, but I've had a splitting headache for the past four pages, and this sentence is way too long and I don't even care. The point is, I think there was something that I didn't get around to, and it might end up in here later.

Just a reminder, I keep a progress report of the current chapter on my author page, so check that out.

One more thing; I really think that I'm missing something in this story, and I think that some constructive criticism would do wonders. So please, please, please, if you have any suggestions on how I can improve the previous or future chapters, leave me a review or a message. Now, for some sleep.

Narf out.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: So... Today is a big day. Today is the release of both Deathly Hallows Part 2, and Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7. So, I'm celebrating by cranking out a chapter. This could be a long one, but I'm going to work diligently to finish it before the day ends. It could end up clocking in at around 2000-2500 words, unless I decide to split it in two, which is a distinct possibility.

**Important:**__I've made some small edits to the last chapter, because in my infinite wisdom, I forgot to actually describe the Lethifold. Or say what it was. So... My bad. I think I've fixed it, but that type of thing happens when you don't proofread/ have an editor/beta reader. Those are the breaks.

"Have a seat, Potter." Professor McGonagall said, conjuring a chair as she bustled into her office. "I would appreciate it if you could make this meeting quick- I'm very busy at the moment. It would appear that students have written home about the Lethifold incident- goodness knows how the students found out themselves- and their parents are most unhappy."

"Sorry, Professor... But I think it's important." Said Harry, thinking carefully about what to say next. "I think that... Well... Professor, I think that Voldemort is active again."

Her reaction is exactly what he would have expected; her face whitened and she became unusually stiff. "You don't mean... Surely you can't be...?"

"I'm afraid so, Professor."

"But surely... Hundreds of people saw him die, Potter! Myself included! How... How could he be alive?"

"I don't know, Professor. But it wouldn't be the first time that he's fooled us."

"... I suppose that that is true enough. But what, may I ask, is at the root of your suspicions?"

"I've been having... Dreams. Visions, I guess you could call them."

Professor McGonagall sat down and stared out the window for a moment. "If I was hearing this from just about anybody else in the world... But I've learned over the years that doubting your intuition is usually... Unwise." Suddenly, she snapped to attention. "Well, Potter, what course of action do you wish to take? If You-Know-Who has indeed returned, then perhaps it would be prudent to recall the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Er... No Professor. I don't think that'll be necessary right now. Even if he is alive, I don't have any idea where he is, or what he's doing. I just thought that you ought to know."

"Alright, Potter." She said, an unusual amount of warmth in her voice. "But just know that the Order will be ready to rise again under your leadership should you send the request."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm not-"

"Nonsense, Potter. You've proven your talent for leadership countless times over the years; perhaps more so than any other wizard alive."

Suddenly, her voice returned to it's usual harsh and businesslike tone. "Well, if there's nothing else, than I'm afraid that I must ask you to leave. I have other important business to take care of."

"Erm... No Professor." Harry said, slightly startled by her sudden change in demeanor. "There's nothing else."

"Then off with you. And Potter... Be careful."

"Of course, Professor."

"So you told her?" Said Hermione. It was later in the evening, and she, Harry, and Ginny were sitting in Harry's office.

"Of course I did. I'm still not sure why you were so insistent... I felt like a bloody idiot when she asked what I wanted her to do. _'Oh, nothing Professor, just sit tight for a bit until I have the slightest bit of proof.'_"

"Well she believed you, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but it's not like there's anything that she could actually do about it. We don't even know for sure that he's alive."

"Harry... I've been talking with Ginny, and we think that it's best that you take every possible precaution."

"What d'you mean by that?"

"Harry... We think that it was no accident that you were the one to run into the Lethifold the other night."

"You think that someone's trying to kill me?"

"Well it should hardly surprise you at this point." Said Ginny. "Can you remember the last time that someone _hasn't_ been after you?"

Harry had to admit that she had a point. "Fair enough. But what about last night?"

"You don't know much about Lethifolds, do you Harry?" Said Hermione.

"A bit."

"Well... A Lethifold attacks without leaving any sign of ever being there. It's a perfect stealth weapon; it silently suffocates the victim... And then swallows the body whole and slips away without a trace."

"I'm following you so far..."

"Harry, don't be thick." Ginny snapped. "Somebody sent that Lethifold after _you._ Lethifolds are never seen this far North- someone had to have brought it up here. And_ h_ow on Earth do you think that wall got there? It was charmed to be unbreakable, _but only from the outside._ It was supposed to kill you and then slip off, but the glass was there so no one could interrupt it if it _was_ seen."

"Well what went wrong then? I'm not dead, so it can't have been that great of a plan."

"Sure, but the point is that somebody's trying to kill you. Obviously, they hoped that you wouldn't be able to fight off that monster, and they wanted to stop anyone else from doing it for you."

"Alright, fine. What's your point? Even if somebody _is_ trying to kill me, there's nothing I can do about it."

"You can watch out for yourself, for one thing. Maybe try a bit of caution?"

"The way you say it, you'd think I went looking for trouble."

"No, but maybe you could try actually _avoiding_ it for once?"

"I don't ask for trouble... It finds me."

"Fine, but can you at least promise that you'll do your best to stay out of trouble?" Said Hermione.

"Fine, I will."

Ginny fell into a chair and threw her head back. "No. No, you won't."

"Probably not." Harry responded, cracking a grin and looking down at his watch. "Ron's probably at Hagrid's by now, let's go."

Their knocks on the door were greeted by the usual scrambling and barking of Fang rushing to the door, followed by Hagrid's heavy footsteps. He threw open the door, and Fang bounded out, nearly bowling over all three of them at once.

"It's 'bout time you lot got down here! We were startin' ter think that yeh wouldn' show up!"

As he passed over the threshold, Ron grinned and waved at Harry from the table. "Hey, Harry! Good to see that you've been keeping busy!"

"You're hilarious. And what've you been up to?"

"Oh, not much. Dad's got a friend in the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee who got me an internship with the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad."

"And how's that going for you?" Said Hermione, sitting down next to Ron. "I'd bet you see some unusual magic there."

"It's a lot of fetching coffee to be honest. But you should know that they still talk about you down there, mate," He said, turning to Harry, "that time you blew up your aunt, remember?"

"Brilliant. Just Excellent."

"Anyway, Harry I've bin' meanin' ter talk ter ya about last nigh'."

"I know, I know. Be careful and whatnot."

"Righ' righ'. But I meant ter ask... When you fough' off the Lethifold... Did yeh... Did yeh really kill it Harry?"

"Hagrid, that thing was trying to eat him!" Ginny shouted angrily.

"I know, I know. Sorry, I know yeh didn' have a choice, but I've never seen one, an' I was hopin'-"

He was interrupted by a horrible noise coming from the Forbidden Forest. After a moment, Harry realized that it was a deep, awful, tortured screaming. "!"

Hagrid jumped out of his chair so quickly that he flipped over the table. Without a word, he grabbed his crossbow and ran out the door, Fang at his heels.

"What the hell was that all about?" Said Ron, looking bewildered.

"I dunno, but I'm going to find out." Said Harry, getting up and running after Hagrid.

Ginny gave Hermione a disbelieving look. "Honestly does he listen to a word that I say?"

"No," said Hermione, standing up to follow Harry, "but we'd better go after him before he gets himself killed!" And with that, the three of them ran after Harry and Hagrid into the Dark Forest.

Author's Note: Well... I made my deadline on the West Coast, so close enough I say. I ended up splitting this, so I'll finish the other half later. I think it'll be a fast one, but no promises. This one was a bit dialogue heavy, but I'll try to make up for it next time.

A few more notes on feedback:

Book-Grubz: You're on to _something_- sort of. I think. Maybe. It's hard to say, really. This could get pretty twisted, but I can say that this runs a bit deeper than that, so be ready.

Starzinmyeyes: Glad you thought so, and there'll be more like it soon. As soon as I can motivate myself. So maybe not soon. If you can't tell, I'm not great with commitment.

By the way, you guys are being way too nice. I feel like I need a bit of criticism to really improve, so have at me. Come one, I can take it. DO IT. I WANT IT. I NEED IT. COME AT ME BRO.

So remember, I'd take another look at the last chapter if you read it before this one was posted. The changes are pretty minor, but still important.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: YEAH. You guys really came through for me this time. I asked for tips for improvement, and I think I have what I need (I'll address those individually later so I don't bog down this note), so expect to see those issues addressed from now on. The neat thing about the format is that it allows easy edits to be made so that I can treat the story as sort of a beta, meaning that I'll be able to go back and apply those criticisms to the previous chapters too. Anyway... Here... We... Go.

Harry charged into the Forbidden Forest, following the sound of Hagrid's heavy footsteps crushing twigs and leaves as he stormed through the forest. Harry wasn't sure what'd made him follow Hagrid, but he had a strange feeling that something was very wrong in the Forest. He followed Hagrid for several minutes until he came to a large clearing; in the middle of it was Hagrid, sitting next to his Giant half-brother Grawp. Hagrid was bent over Grawp's left leg, which was bleeding rather badly. As Harry stepped into the clearing, he stepped on a twig, making a loud snapping noise. Hagrid jumped up and whirled around, obviously startled.

"Ah, Harry... It's jus' you..." He said, turning back to Grawp's injured leg. "I thought they might've come back... What're yeh doin' out here anyway?"

"I had a gut feeling. I thought something seemed odd." Harry answered as he cautiously walked towards Grawp.

"Yeh shouldn' be out here, yeh know. Not that yer gut wasn' right... Take a look over here."

Harry bent down to look at Grawp's leg and Gasped. It was a horrible sight; it seemed that deep chunks were missing from the flesh, and a large pool of blood was forming on the forest floor. "Hagrid... What happened to him?"

"Well..." Hagrid started slowly, reaching into one of his pockets and retrieving a large handful of a strange looking herb. "There aren' many things in the forest that'd attack a giant. They've got some tough skin, yeh see. Mos' creatures wouldn' be stupid enough to try. An' by the looks of these wounds, those are Werewolf bites." He finished, sprinkling the herb over the wounds.

Harry watched thoughtfully as the gouges began to heal at a visible rate. "Wait, there really are werewolves in the Forbidden Forest? And how could they be transformed, the moon isn't full tonight!"

"Yep, but they usually keep to themselves and stay deep in the forest. They're pretty docile, as werewolves go. The centaurs keep 'em in line most o' the time. But there are two types o' werewolf, you see. You're thinkin' of a wizard that's been infected, and turns inter a wolf once a month. But what we've got here are true werewolves; the kind that stays a wolf all the time. Sort of the opposite, really. Instead of a man bein' more like a wolf, it's a wolf that's more like a man. They only transform fully durin' the full moon, but they're still pretty tough withou' it. The big change tha' comes with the full moon is aggression and a good bit o' bloodlust. Not to mention an infectious bite."

"Alright, but if they're tame, why did they attack tonight?"

"I wish I knew, Harry. They usually hunt small animals, squirrels and the like. The only time they'd ever go for anything else is during the full moon. Bu' like I said, this pack knows better than to go after Grawpy." He said, standing up and dusting off his knees. "I'm goin' ter see if I can find anythin' in the Forest that might have e'm riled... I'll be back in a bit. Until I get back, you stay with Grawpy, alrigh' He'll look after yeh.?"

Harry nodded, and Hagrid dashed off deeper into the shadows. His head was swimming from all this new info about werewolves. He had no idea what any of this was about, but he knew that even if he did get an answer, he wouldn't like it. He was just wondering about was driving so many dark creatures to become even more vicious when he heard a strangled shouting coming from the direction of Hagrid's hut. "RON!" He shouted, getting up and running as fast as he could toward the sound of the noise.

He found Ron quickly enough, but the sight that greeted him was extremely unpleasant; Ron was sprawled facedown on the ground, his right arm bleeding and his right leg sticking out at an odd angle. Harry tried to run forward to help him, but before he could take three steps he was bowled over by what felt like a furry car. He fell forward, and felt a two enormous paws on his back, and hot breath on his neck. With a tremendous effort he managed to roll over and displace the paws. He was greeted by the sight of horrible, yellowed teeth.

The werewolf was about five feet tall and six feet long with an enormous shaggy coat that covered a powerful, muscled body. He stayed as still as he could, trying to reach his wand without making any sudden movements. As soon as he felt the wooden handle, he whipped it out of his pocket and pointed it at the wolf, shouting _"STUPEFY!"_ The spell wasn't nearly as effective as he'd hoped it would be. The wolf was thrown back several yards, but remained fully conscious. It staggered backwards and immediately prepared to strike again. As it charged Harry jumped out of the way, but felt impact as another wolf tackled him from behind. He felt it's teeth cut into his shoulder and he heard himself scream out in pain. He felt the first wolf land roughly on his back and tear into his other arm. Harry was sure that he wouldn't make it out of the forest alive, when-

The Earth shook and trees fell as Grawp came smashing into view. "HARY!" He shouted, pushing over trees to get closer. Harry heard a loud thumping noise, and the weight lifted off of his back. Harry heard a pitiful whimpering as one of the wolves flew and hit a tree some twenty yards away, and the other scampered away.

"Thanks, Grawp..." Harry groaned as he gingerly pushed himself up with his remaining good arm. He staggered a little ways away, and began to shout, "HAGRID! OVER HERE!" hoping that Hagrid was within earshot. Within moments, he heard thundering footsteps approaching from his left. When he turned, he was surprised to see not Hagrid, but Ginny stomping through the trees, followed by an exhausted looking Hermione.

"WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU TO DO? WHAT DID YOU PROMISE?" She shouted, the personality traits that she'd inherited from her mother shining through.

"I promised I'd be more careful..."

"EXACTLY, AND WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"I went into the forest to fight werewolves..."

"WHAT- WEREWOLVES?" Ginny sputtered. "ARE YOU MAD? YOU'RE LUCKY NOT TO BE DEAD! YOU HAD US WORRIED SICK! I CAN'T- Harry, what happened to your arm?"

"It'll be fine, we need to get Ron out of here, he's in bad shape..."

At that moment, Hagrid emerged from the trees, carrying Ron."

"HARRY, I TOL' YEH TER WAIT WITH GRAWP! YEH COULD'VE BEEN KILLED!"

"Yeah, so I've heard." Harry muttered under his breath. Listen, we can talk more about this later, let's just get back to the castle before my arm falls off..."

Author's Note: There was going to be bit more to this chapter, but I decided to use it a starting point for the next chapter. It really helps when I have a solid place to start. So now... To for those who took the time to review, I'd to take a moment to thank you for your efforts. Your tips and encouragements motivated me to get this chapter done so quickly. By the way... I got about twelve hours with no response of any sort, then four in about an hour. So I'm thinking that you must all be the same person. So I'm onto you...

Starzinmyeyez: I usually avoid cliffhangers because they always struck me as a bit gimmicky, but I got lazy and decided to just call it. This was actually supposed to be about where the last one ended, but I lost my motivation. Those are the breaks.

PhinBella Fan2: I tried to get a bit more action here, but unfortunately it could be a bit inconsistent over the next few chapters. I'll do what I can to put in a bit more romance, but I'm trying to strike a bit of a balance so they don't overshadow the story, you know? But even if there aren't enough in the next couple chapters, I've got some mindbogglingly sappy ones in store for the long run.

Techmaga: I'll admit that the word 'subpar' stung a bit, but I think that you've really hit the nail on the head here. I think that you've identified what I've been really missing. It's been quite a while since I've done any narrative writing, so that's definitely something to improve on. Where I shine is persuasive essays and the like, where I've found it's best to avoid flourish and excessive description. So I've tried to take that into account while writing this chapter, and I think that it's actually a bit better. It could take a while to improve as it involves totally overhauling my writing style, but I think the story could really benefit. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

FairyFiona: Thanks a ton! I've never understood AU stories that completely disregard too many established plot points, it seems like you might as well just make your own characters and story, you know? But to each their own, I guess. There are evidently a lot of people who like that, so I don't see any reason to judge. But yeah, it can be pretty hard to find stories that match your interests.

Subnote: If I were to write an alternate sequel that would sort of follow this story (in addition to a real sequel, of course), it would probably be a crossover involving Transformers. Take that information as you will and drop me a line via private message if you find this an interesting concept. Which is entirely hypothetical. Yeah...

These notes are getting way too long... I'm sorry...


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: Well, I'm afraid that things might be a bit slower for the next couple of chapters. That's not to say that it'll be boring; these next few chapters'll be key later, and if everything goes as planned they'll be pretty interesting. But I've been wrong before. Anyway, it's about 2:30 in the morning, and I'm pretty sure I'm not completely coherent. So watch out for that, and if anything doesn't make sense, drop me a line. Come to think of it, drop me a line anyway. I'm a lonely person.

The halls were nearly empty as Harry and his friends made their way up to the hospital wing. Hagrid was still carrying, Ron, who was groaning Looking at his watch, Harry could see that it was well after curfew.

"HEY! What do you lot think you're doing out of bed this late, making a mess of my castle?" Argus Filch had appeared out of thin from behind them, waving a mop that was drenched in blood. "Oh it's you..." Filch grumbled, obviously disappointed that he wouldn't be able to tell off a student.

"Sorry..." Harry said, looking at the trail of blood that had been dripping down his arm. "I didn't notice it..."

"Honestly, Harry..." Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand. "I'll take care of it... Scourgify!" She flicked her wand at the trail of blood droplets, and it disappeared without a trace. Filch grumbled something under his breath, the distinguishable words of which were _'insubordination,' 'filthy brats'_ and _'dungeons,'_ and stormed off through a secret passage.

"Never min' him, Harry." Said Hagrid gruffly as they continued down the corridor, Hermione siphoning up the trail of blood as they went. "I reckon he resents somebody as young as you bein' on the staff. Spiteful, tha' one. Here we are..." He adjusted Ron so that he was slung over one shoulder and gently rapped on the Hospital Wing Door.

After a moment, Madame Pomfrey opened the door, dressed in her nightgown and curlers. "What is it? Wha'ts going on?" She saw Harry's bleeding shoulder and Ron unconscious in Hagrid's arms and her face went pale. "Hagrid, what on Earth happened?"

"Jus' a spot o' trouble with some Werewolves, nothin' to worry about, but it'd probably best ter get 'em patched up pretty quick..."

Madame Pomfrey gave Hagrid a disapproving look that said quite plainly that she believed that Werewolves were indeed something to worry about, but ushered them in all the same. "Lie down, I'll get to you in a minute." She said, frantically waving Harry into an empty bed and gesturing to Hagrid to place Ron in the next bed over. Harry sat down gratefully, as he was starting to feel dizzy from blood loss. Hermione pulled up a chair next to Ron's bed, and Ginny sat between the two.

Madame Pomfrey bustled around her cupboards, gathering up vials and packages of bandages. She poured drops from several of the vials on Ron's wounds, dressed the wounds carefully, and tipped several potions into his mouth. Finally, she stood up.

"Well, he's lucky. He should wake up soon enough..." She turned to Harry. "Alright, let's see it." Harry pulled down the shoulder of his robes to expose the wound. He could see Ginny grimacing out of the corner of his eye. "Potter, it's a wonder that you're even standing..."

Harry looked down at his shoulder. The wound was much deeper than he'd expected; he could almost see the bone. Now that he'd seen it, the pain seemed much worse.

"Well, should be able to clean it up, but I want you two to stay overnight." Madame Pomfrey said as she began to treat Harry's shoulder. "Just as soon as-" Her sentence was interrupted by the sounds of Ron stirring in the next bed. He was trying to sit up with little success. "Ahhh..." He moaned as he fell back into the bed. "What happened? Where are we?"

"The hospital wing." Said Hermione, sounding concerned. "You were savaged by a Werewolf, don't you remember?"

"Bloody hell... Now I remember why I didn't come back this year..."

"Alright, they'll both be fine." Said Madam Pomfrey, opening the door. "Bed for everybody... Now!"

Hermione and Ginny stopped by the hospital wing first thing the next morning; Ron was still snoring when they arrived. They had to talk in a whisper, as Madam Pomfrey had forbidden them from waking him.

"How bad is it?" Said Hermione, shooting a worried glance at Ron.

"Madam Pomfrey did a good job." Said Harry. "She said there would be a bit of scarring, but no permanent damage."

"That's alright..." Said Ginny, winking and leaning close to his ear and whispering so Hermione couldn't hear. "I like your battle scars anyway."

"It's a good thing too..."

"Anyway, Harry, we need to talk about last night." Said Hermione, straightening her posture.

"I figured. Well, go ahead then."

"Harry... That was a really stupid thing that you did last night." Said Ginny bluntly.

Harry took off his glasses and pretended to polish them on his sheets to give his hands something to do. "Yeah, well I thought something was out of place. And I was kind of right, wasn't I?"

Hermione shook her head. "Harry... Did you know that there are only seven magical magical creatures that have an XXXXX classification from the Ministry of Magic? It means that those creatures are known wizard-killers, and are completely impossible to tame."

"That's interesting and all, but what are you-"

"What I'm getting at is that you've been attacked by two of them in the past week."

"I guess it sounds bad when you say it like that."

"Exactly. That kind of thing doesn't happen by coincidence, Harry. You should know that by now." Interjected Ginny. "And it doesn't help when you follow every impulse that tells you to charge headfirst into danger."

"I thought you like my impulsiveness."

"I do, Harry. And I would love to be able to enjoy it for a few years before you get yourself killed."

"I'll do what I can."

Hermione shook her head in exasperation. "I guess that's the best that we'll get." She sighed. The other thing that we need to talk about is... Well, we think that whoever is behind all this is somewhere inside the castle."

"Well... Yeah." Said Harry, slightly puzzled. "I mean, of course they are. How else would they be doing these things?"

"Oh, Harry... One day you'll read _Hogwarts a History_, and I won't have to explain all of these things to you."

"Fine, but can we get a move on until then?" Said Harry testily, trying to cross his arms, but he was stopped by a stiff pain in his shoulder.

"What I'm trying to say is, you can't just walk into Hogwarts. It's one of the most secure buildings on this continent. Particularly in the last few years; the security's been increased tenfold." She closed her eyes for a moment. "Harry, that means that whoever tried to kill you is either a student or staff. Probably staff, because they'd need security clearance to be able to have let the Lethifold in."

"Oh... I see."

"See, Harry? You need to be more careful." Ginny scolded, crossing her legs.

"Alright, alright, fine."

"And Harry, make sure you keep an eye on the rest of the staff."

Author's Note: Well... That was a mess. But I'm too tired to care, so I'll just fix it later. I was thinking about putting more in here, but I think I'll just save that for next time, because there's a bit of a timeskip. So this chapter and the next one could be dull, but things'll pick up. I'm really excited for one in particular. And one at the end of the story. Of course, there'll probably be some filler in the middle. But I'll try to make it not suck. Why the hell am I still talking. You guys don't need to know any of this yet. Oh well. Congratulations on actually reading these notes.

Anyway, please rate and review as usual. And that Transformers thing I mentioned last time. _I_ like it, but I'm not sure how much of a fanbase overlap there is. So do you guys like Transformers? (Note that if you say no, I might hunt you down. You have been warned. One time my friends boyfriend said that Gobots were better than Transformers, and I swear to god, it took every bit of restraint not to KO the bastard. Anyway, I can't stay on track tonight).

And I'd like to take a moment to thank Starzinmyeyez for taking the time to review every chapter since chapter six; it really means a lot, and the feedback makes the whole experience more fun (You're my favorite, but don't tell the others because th- OH GOD THEY'RE LISTENING. ACT CASUAL).


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: I've got some things to say, but I think it'd be better if I save them until after. So until then... Yeah. Just a warning; I barely have the slightest idea where this chapter is going. So it'll probably be a pretty short one.

So... You asked more some Harry/Ginny moments, and I'd be more than happy to oblige. If you guys don't mind reading them, I guess I don't mind writing them (assuming it fits into the main plot, of course). And if you do mind them, well... Speak up, I guess.

Much to Harry's relief, the next few months passed without any serious injuries. Before he knew it, December had arrived and the castle was bursting with the seems with holiday spirit. The change in seasons had it's usual effect on the castle. Mistletoe was hung from the ceiling every ten feet, and Filch could be seen bustling around mopping up snow and mud and threatening students with his usual threats of dismemberment.

Harry still found the holiday spirit rather infectious; Christmas at the Dursleys had simply been one more opportunity for his Aunt and Uncle to taunt him by showering Dudley with expensive gifts while giving Harry old clothing. Hogwarts couldn't have been more of a contrast; even the Gryffindors and Slytherins managed to be somewhat civil towards each other (most of the time, anyway).

It was on a cold night that Harry sat at his desk, sorting through an enormous pile of essays and beginning to regret assigning so much work. He was halfway through a particularly illegible paper and about to throw down his quill out of sheer frustration, when there was a gentle knock on the door.

"Come in!" He said, keeping his eyes trained on the paper so he wouldn't lose his place. He heard the door creak slightly, but there was no answer. "Hello? Who is it?" There was no answer. Instead, Harry felt warm breath on the side of his cheek. He nearly fell out of his chair, and whirled around. Ginny was standing directly behind him, reading over his shoulder.

"I think they meant to say 'moonstone...' But then again, I can't really tell what they were going for."

"Geez... What are you doing? You almost gave me a heart attack..."

"Sorry" She giggled, "I just thought that I'd stop by for a bit. You aren't too busy, are you?"

Harry looked down at the paper and gave it up as a lost cause. "I guess not." He said, pushing the parchment away and leaning back in his chair. Ginny settled herself down on his lap, and gave him a strange look.

"Are you feeling alright?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes. "You're acting a bit odd..."

Ginny didn't answer for a moment, but kissed him deeply instead. "You know, I really like you, Harry."

"Hmmm." He answered vaguely, lost in the feel of her lips and the smell of her hair.

"So... Professor Slughorn's Christmas party is coming up next week, and I was hoping you'd go with me?"

"Hm, of cour- What?" Harry pulled back quickly, resulting in a loud smacking noise and a sore lip. "What does that... Are you trying to trick me?"

Ginny shrugged innocently. "Was it working?"

"I never liked those parties... Can't you get out of it? Schedule a quidditch practice for that night, that's what I used to do."

"I can't. He's made sure that everybody has the night free. And there's a blizzard coming, the team'd murder me if I made them practice in that. So the bottom line is, I don't have an excuse, so neither do you."

"I liked it better when you were asking."

"It didn't seem to be going anywhere. It's just one night, anyway. At least he doesn't invite you to the dinners anymore... Right pain in the ass, those are."

Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to worm out of it, and figured that it would be best to just go with the flow and admit defeat. "Fine, I'll go."

Ginny stopped by Harry's office on the night of the party in her best dress robes; they were secondhand like many of the Weasley's things, but Harry couldn't help but admire the way she wore them.

They paused outside the door of Professor Slughor's office for a moment so Harry could steel himself; he was glad that he had as soon as they'd entered the room. Professor Slughorn seemed to seek him out the second they'd passed over the threshold, and was shaking his hand enthusiastically before Harry even noticed him approaching.

"Harry, my good old friend! It's been far too long since we've talked!" He said as pulled Harry toward the center of the room as though putting a rare gem on display. "Imagine, we've been working together for months already, and we've barely had a decent conversation!"

"Sorry Professor, I've been busy." Said Harry guiltily. In fact, he'd been avoiding Slughorn for the past months; he didn't particularly dislike him, but he did find the constant talk of connections in the Ministry rather tiring.

"Oh, never you mind, it happens to the best of us." Said Slughorn, waving a large hand airily. "And please, Harry, call me Horace, we're colleagues now, after all!"

"Um... Right. Thanks, Pro- Horace."

"Much better, much better. Now, Minerva tells me that you're only planning on staying for a year?"

"That's right, Sir."

"Well, then... Have you thought much about what you'd like to do next year?"

"Um... No, I guess I haven't."

"Well perhaps I could be of assistance? If you still intend to join the Ministry, I know some excellent people that hold a lot of influence in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that would be absolutely delighted to have you. I say, you shouldn't have the slightest bit of trouble, what with your track record!"

"Thanks, Professor, but I think I'd like to take a bit of a break from dark magic."

"Of course, of course, quite understandable indeed, after everything that you've been through in the past year. Although judging by what I've heard, you haven't had the best of luck so far, have you? He chuckled slightly. "Lethifolds, werewolves, and a vanished ribcage. You've been busy as usual, my boy. Well, let's see..." Slughorn muttered, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I recall that you're quite the remarkable Quidditch player, Team Captain and everything! Although, I reckon this fine young lady might be able to give you a run for your money!" He said, winking at Ginny. "You know, I'd bet that I could get you a tryout for the English National team if you were interested. I could put in a good word with the coach, he's a very very good friend."

The idea held quite an appeal to Harry; he had a brief flashback to when he'd gone to the Quidditch World Cup, and he remembered imagining the crowd chanting his name as he swooped overhead. He did miss playing Quidditch competitively... "Thanks, Professor! I'll think about it for a bit, but I really like the idea!"

"Nonsense, m'boy, anything for an old student. It's not a problem really, I'll just put in a good word... I make a point to put somebody through every so often, just a push in the right direction, you know. I can get you in easily, just ask Professor Baines!" He stuck out an arm and pulled over a tired looking witch with short grey hair and dark eyes. Harry couldn't help but notice that she didn't look too thrilled to have been pulled into the conversation in such a manner. "Cecilia here was an old student of mine, made it to the big leagues with a bit of help from yours truly, but was badly injured in a six broom pileup... Tragic, she was quite a talent... Anyway, Cecilia, have you met Harry Potter?"

The witch shook her head curtly. "Well, Harry was one of the best potions students that I've ever had, a natural talent. Never seen anything like it, except his mother and old Severus..."

Somewhere in the middle of Slughorn's rambling speech, Harry and Ginny managed to sneak away. As Harry turned to slip away, he immediately walked into somebody; Luna Lovegood had been standing several inches behind him. She was dressed as oddly as usual; she was wearing dress robe that seemed to be made of several varieties of plant life.

"Sorry, Luna... But what were you doing there?"

"I was waiting for the two of you to finish your conversation." She said dreamily. "It's very rude to interrupt, you know."

"Well, it's good to see you here."

"Say, have either of you seen Neville?" Luna continued, looking around the room. "I came here with him, but I seem to have lost him somewhere... Oh well. He'll turn up eventually, I suppose."

"Neville's here too?" Said Harry, mildly surprised; as far as Harry'd known, Professor Slughorn hadn't taken a shine to either Neville or Luna.

Unfortunately, Luna seemed to pick up on his unintentional implication, although she didn't seem the last bit offended. "Oh, yes. I don't think Professor Slughorn liked us much last year, but after last year, he's invited most of Dumbledore's Army."

She was quite right; Slughorn seemed to have invited all of Harry's old D.A. Cohorts; they met up with Dennis Creevey, who seemed rather lonely without his older brother, and Dean Thomas, and even most of those who'd graduated. They met Lee Jordan and George Weasley, who were now co-running Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot, who seemed to be a couple, and even Cho Chang and Michael Corner, who had come together and shot Ginny and Harry respective jealous looks. Ron had surprised them by showing up; even after two years, he was still delighted to receive an invitation. He was also happy to report that he was feeling perfectly up to scratch, and seemed to be treating his new scars like a medal of honor, even going as far as showing them off to a small crowd.

The evening went much better than Harry could've hoped for; it had been more than a year since Harry had seen some of his friends, and it felt good to catch up. By the end of the evening he was thoroughly exhausted. The party continued until well after midnight, when Filch came to complain about the noise and send everybody straight to bed.

Author's note: Looks like I'm going to make two days in a row here. This one could be the last for the next few days, as all is not well in Narfland. Still, I thought that I could put in a bit of extra time and finish this one up fast. Slughorn is too easy to write; just wordy rambling. Awesome. Another abrupt ending, but it's getting late, and I've done what I want to here. Over three pages is good enough for one update in my mind.

Now, for the review corner:

Starzinmyeyez; Trust me, your feedback is as helpful as anybody else's. The consistancy is excellent; it's great to know that somebody out there is actually reading, you know?

Phinbella: Glad you enjoyed them, I'm trying to strike a little bit of a balance between action and exposition, and I think it's going pretty smoothly. I can tell that I'm going to hit another huge snag in a couple chapters (I can feel the writer's block already), but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Fairyfiona: Ack. I have to say, I'm a bit embarrassed. As it turns out, I made a mistake in my research, and it turns out that there are actually supposed to be 9 creatures. There's a cool page on the Harry Potter wiki that lists them under the title 'XXXXX' creatures (a very misleading title if you ask me). So I'll just put that on file for the corrections. Second, I think I'll flesh out the Transformers idea a bit, so hear me out here; I actually see quite a bit of common ground between the two series. Or at least, the potential for it. As for them being one dimensional characters, I'd chalk that up to unfortunate happenstance. You see, they've been portrayed in dozens of different TV series, toys, movies etc., usually catering to a younger audience, which explains the lack of character depth. And within the last year, a new series of films came out, targeting an older audience. Of course, what happened here was Michael Bay. When it comes to cinematography, he's the absolute best. Cream of the crop. But his dialogue/screenwriting standards are pretty low. The results were predicable: three great Summer action movies that were nothing more than great Summer action movies. I personally would've liked to see someone like Christopher Nolan directing, but that's beside the point. Anyway, the fact that they've been portrayed so many times and in so many ways, it leaves the characters a bit open. That's not to say that they don't have _any _established characteristics; I remember the Armada series doing a pretty good job establishing character (as far as children's cartoons go, anyway), but that was the last series that I watched, and it's been a while. I might have just been twelve. But I think that there's definitely room to explore there; there's the moral vacuum between the Autobots and Decepticons (Defend the humans or repopulate their own planet at the human's expense?), the nature of the soul, etc. And then there's the fact that they have technology so advanced that it can potentially rival magic, which I think is an interesting concept. I've even got some ideas for exploring the boundaries between life and death. But on some level, I think the eight year old in me wants to write about explosions. But this is still all hypothetical, and I would still put out another 'real' sequel at the same time.

TL,DR: I think that the Transformers characters are often portrayed as one dimensional, mostly due to laziness, but there's plenty of room to flesh them out. It could be a good opportunity to practice developing characters. Sorry about the essay, I take my Transformers a bit too seriously. (450+ WORDS!)

So until next time, this is Narf signing out.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's note: I've created a poll that I'd like everybody who's bothered to read this far to take a moment to answer; it won't take long, and it would really help me out (For more information about it, see my notes at the end of this chapter and the last one). The poll is right at the top of my profile page, above my penname. That's all for now, more things after the chapter. Which will probably be pretty short. So watch out for that.

All in all, Harry was quite glad to see the end of the term. His students were coming along well, but the term had taken quite a toll on him. He'd arranged to spend his week off at the Burrow; despite the fact that it was customary for teachers to spend the Holidays at the castle, Professor McGonagall had given him permission to leave.

The excitement in the air was nearly tangible on the last day of classes; all of the students were eagerly awaiting the Holidays, and even the teachers seemed ready for their week off. Harry had capped of the term by telling his N.E.W.T. Level classes that he would be teaching them to cast the patronus charm early in the next term; after several months with them, he'd finally felt comfortable enough with them to delve into the more advanced forms of magic. He had to admit that teaching them was much more difficult than teaching the D.A.; he supposed that it had something to do with the students being forced to be there, as opposed to volunteering.

His final lessons left him exhausted and starving, so he headed to directly down the great hall for dinner that night. Despite being rather tired, he was in a good mood; he was looking forward to a week of no teaching classes, as well as spending the official last day of term in Hogsmeade with Ginny, Hermione, and Ron. It was with a feeling of great content that he began to eat.

However, he'd barely had time to start digging in when an enormous force hit him on the back, sending him flying face-first into his plate of baked potato.

"Ah, sorry ' bout tha'..." Evidently, Harry had been to engaged in his dinner to notice Hagrid approaching from behind, and had thus been unable to prepare himself for a forceful pat on the back. "Gotta remember ter keep an eye on tha'... But I've been lookin' for yeh all day! Yeh see, every year me an some o' the other teachers like ter celebrate the end o' term by headin' down ter the Three Broom fer' a drink or two. Seein' as yer a teacher now, I thought yeh migh' like ter join us?"

"Sure," said Harry, wiping bits of potato from his forehead, "sounds like a good time."

"Excellen', we'll be at the pub aroun' three, soun' good?"

"Great, I'll be there."

Harry spent the rest of the meal as he usually did, engaged in intense discussion about quidditch with Hagrid and Neville. A good portion of the meal was spent ranting about the English national team; at the rate that they were going, they'd finish at the bottom of the League with a worse season record than the Chudley Cannons.

After dinner, Harry slowly worked his way up to his office, enticed by the prospect of a good night's rest, and no papers to grade. However, when he opened the door, he discovered that his office wasn't empty; Ginny was sitting in his chair with her feet up on his desk, reading a copy of the Daily Prophet that he'd been meaning to look through.

"Anything interesting in there?" He said conversationally, mostly for the sake of alerting her to his presence.

"Not in the least. England lost to France, 350 to ten..." She responded, throwing the paper away in disgust. "Can you imagine? _France__..."_ She shook her head.

"I heard, are we out of running for the cup yet?"

"Technically, no, but we don't stand a chance."

"Ah, well... There's always next year I guess. How was practice?"

"Getting better, but we're still having problems with defense... Not one decent Keeper showed up for try-outs. I've got some strategies that should keep us from getting smoked like last time, but it's no good if we don't get the Snitch... We really need all the points we can get to stay in the running for the cup. Fletcher's decent, but the team's just not the same without you.

"I'm sure that you'll do fine, if you can keep on the offensive." Harry paused for a minute, thinking carefully about what he was going to say next. "So... I was talking to Hagrid, and he asked if I would get a drink with him and some of the other teachers, and... Well... You don't mind, do you?"

She tipped her head to the side slightly. "Why would I?"

Harry sighed with relief. He'd been remembering the time that he'd had to tell his last girlfriend, Cho Chang, that he'd have to leave a date early; she'd stormed out and they'd barely spoken again. He took a moment appreciate Ginny's relaxed attitude. "I was just..."

"While we're talking about tomorrow, I was thinking that we could stop in at Madam Puddifoot's?" She laughed at the mortified expression on Harry's face. "But... If you are leaving early, maybe you could make it up to me now?" She whispered, moving in closer.

Author's Note: And I think the rest of this scene is best left to the imagination. It's short and abrupt, but think of it as sort of a preview of the full chapter. I wanted to get _something _ online so that I could draw a bit of attention to the poll I made. As an apology, the next part will be up really soon (at some point tomorrow).

No offence, France; it was going to be Australia, but then I looked at my stats, and realized that they were a good chunk of my reader-base, so they're off the hook. France... My apologies.

One more thing; the last chapter was one of the most successful that I've had so far. You guys rule.

PhinBella Fan2: No worries, I think I've found some inspiration. The real issue that I've been having I that I'm really excited to get to the end, and I technically _could_ skip right there, but I feel like it would be a bit of a cheat to skip from January to around June. But like I said, I have some ideas...

Starzinmeyeyez: I always liked how flexible Filch was a character; he could go from comic relief to being genuinely threatening. Of course, I'm sure that Harry'll eventually get the hang of using his authority as a teacher to make him miserable.

Fairyfiona: Therein lies the problem; I see the potential, but I'd like to make sure that other people do before I dive in face-first. I kind of like the idea of Voldemort and Megatron pooling resources to try to 'create' life, but I might be the only one. The main issue is that the story would be listed under crossovers, where I really can't count on anybody finding it. Seriously, the Harry Potter/ Transformers section is a wasteland (not that I'm at all surprised). So I'd basically be counting on people who liked this story and wanted more to read it. If there's no interest, I'd just be wasting my time, you know? And by the way, I'm sure that Slughorn wouldn't let Filch put his guests in detention. And the hints/foreshadowing is there, it's just _very_ faint as of yet. But things will come together in due time.

Silent Shootting Star: You know what? I might just take you up on that. I'd need to do a bit more research on the Beta program here, but if you don't mind me sending along a chapter in advance when I'm feeling iffy about it, that'd be great. The main problem that I've been having with Ginny is amking her a strong, forceful personality without overdoing it and making her... Well, a bitch. I _think_ things've been better in that regard though.

So... I did it again. The Note is as long as the chapter. Sorry for the disappointment; I'll try to make it up soon.


	17. Chapter 17

Author's note: Well, the poll results were a bit... Underwhelming. As in two votes. Yikes. Come on, people... You make an old man weep. Anyway, I guess I'll have to keep it open for a bit longer, and keep reminding people to _**GO CHECK THE POLL AT THE TOP OF MY PROFILE **_(and to see the notes at the bottom of chapters 15 and 16 for more info)_. _To the people who've already done it, you're the best. Keep on rockin'.

Now, on with the show. This should be short, because I'll be finishing what I started yesterday. Sorry, but the next few should make up for it.

Harry, Ginny and Hermione, left the castle for Hogsmeade early the next morning. The village was as beautiful as the castle in Winter; the snow-covered rooftops and colorful signs gave the impression of a fairytale village.

Ron was waiting for them at the gate; as soon as they arrived, he subtly clasped Hermione's hand, and they proceeded toward the town. First, they stopped by Wiseacre's Wizarding Supplies to do a bit of Christmas shopping; Harry bought book of practical joke hexes that he thought Ginny would enjoy; he made a mental note to memorize the counter-curses, just as a precaution. Harry, Ginny, and Ron then dragged Hermione into Spintwitches Sporting Goods so they could fawn over the latest quidditch gear; she retaliated by forcing them into Tomes & Scrolls specialty books, where she spent at least an hour fretting over which books to buy.

Once they'd finally managed to pry Hermione away from the mountains of ancient books, it was nearly one o'clock in the afternoon. Ginny proposed that it would be a nice idea to stop by the Hog's Head and visit Aberforth; however, it seemed that he'd been prepared for them. The sign on the door read 'Closed' in large, untidy handwriting, although Harry could swear that he could see flames in the fireplace.

They received a bit of a surprise midway down the main street, in the form of an enormous and vibrant storefront with an enormous array of brightly colored products. "No way..." Ginny murmured as she ran her eyes over the merchandise. "It can't be..." But there was no mistaking it, and a glance upward at the sign was enough to confirm it; Weasley's Wizard Wheezes had opened in Hogsmeade. The four of them bustled inside, where they were greeted by a tall black boy with long dreadlocks; the Weasley twins' best friend, Lee Jordan.

"We knew you'd be stopping by soon! But I was starting to worry that you wouldn't show!" Said Lee, his grin broadening. "C'mon, George's in the back, let's go!"

George was ecstatic to see them; he celebrated the new store's opening (and corresponding increase in revenue) by treating them to all the free products that they could carry; by the time that they were ready to leave, they were so laden down with decoy detectors, Peruvian instant darkness powder, extendable ears, and skiving snackboxes ("Even teachers need to skip class, sometimes." remarked George as he handed Harry some Puking Pastilles) that they could barely walk.

With a good effort, they staggered down the street to the Three Broomsticks, where they could finally set down their packages. "How on Earth do they come up with this stuff?" Harry mused, examining a box of puking pastilles; all of the goods were disguised as Christmas candy, so everything could be snuck past Filch.

"A lot of time and an unusual mindset." Said Ginny. "And by the way, your friends are here." She pointed at the door. Hagrid had come thumping through the door, accompanied by Professors McGonagall, Slughorn, Flitwick, and a tall man with tightly curled brown hair that Harry didn't know by name.

Ginny gave Harry a peck on the cheek and told him that she was going to meet up with some friends from her year, and Ron mumbled something, the only words of which that Harry caught were 'promised, coffee, and puddifoot,' before leaving with Hermione, his ears as red as tomatoes.

Harry moved over to take a seat between Hagrid and Professor Slughorn, both of whom seemed to have started drinking rather early. Slughorn's stories about his old pupils were carrying even further than usual: "And old Donnie Stebbing, such a sweetheart, lucky to have him as a friend, I say, possibly the best antidote-mixer that I've ever taught- HARRY!" He shouted suddenly, repeatedly clapping Harry on the back as though he were choking. "Didn't see you there, my boy, you really out to make your presence known! But where are my manners, This is Professor Rigby, our new Muggle Studies teacher, I don't believe that you've met before?" Said Slughorn, gesturing towards the man with the curly hair.

"No, I don't believe that we have." Said Rigby. "Mr. Potter, such an honor, Horace's told me so much about you, so many great things that I've heard you, it's hard to know what to believe-"

"Now, now, Morris," Said Slughorn, lazily waving a hand at Rigby. "Don't bore him, I'm sure he's heard his own story enough..." He continued callously. "You see, Harry, Morris is an old student of mine, brilliant, _brilliant_ wizard, I must say that we were all a bit shocked when he ran off to study Muggles, but I suppose that those books have netted him a nice living, right you old scallawag?" He punched Rigby playfully. "Speaking of books, I hear you've got one coming out soon, Harry?"

"No, Professor, what do you mean?" Asked Harry, baffled.

"Ah, but of course... A Rita Skeeter project, you probably weren't involved very much..."

"Oh... No, Professor." Harry said glumly; he'd nearly forgotten about Rita Skeeter's upcoming autobiography; the thought of it made his stomach turn.

"No worries, Harry! I'm sure it won't be too bad, she wrote a piece about my old friend Eldred Worple, I believe you've met him? Some nasty accusations in there, nasty, nasty things she claimed he did to get those vampires to talk to him, but the whole thing blew over. Like it never happened at all! But then again, it might as well have not, as I suppose that not too many people would bother reading a biography about a biographer..."

Slughorn's rambling carried on for the rest of the gathering; he scarcely noticed when his audience stopped paying attention entirely, and began to talk amongst themselves.

Author's note: Not my best writing (maybe some of my worst so far), but it's the best that I can do right now. It's not a terribly important chapter, so I won't worry about it too much. The next two chapters should be good; then I'll pull things out of my ass for a bit, and then hopefully have the awesome ending that I've been planning for a long time. I'm going to keep the rest of this quick, because it's late, and I'm starting to feel a bit sick (your skull feeling too small for your brain is never a good thing.

Sorry, but I really don't have it in me to write up the individual notes for reviews, so I'm just going to put up a general 'You guys rule' notice. Thanks to everybody who reviewed and/or did my poll; your input really means a lot to me, and makes the story better.


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note: I think I've cleared the cobwebs out of my head. Writing was starting to feel less like a hobby and more like an obligation (I was starting to feel like I had to force the story along to get an update out every day), so the chapters were starting to feel pretty uninspired. Anyway, I've taken a little rest and I have a more definite vision for the next few chapters, so this should go a lot more smoothly. But I will warn you now; If you don't like cliffhangers, then wait until the next chapter comes out to read this one. Just a little tip off.

Also... **YOU GUYS DIDN'T ANSWER MY POLL.** I mean, obviously some of you did. But not enough for me to get an accurate reading. **SO GO DO THAT.** And by the way, the poll is designed to remove as much of my bias as possible by scrambling the order of the answers and whatnot, so I'm going to do my darnedest to put it back: **SAY YES.** That is all.

Mrs. Weasley was ecstatic to see Harry and Ginny back at the Burrow; by the time they'd walked in the door, she'd already prepared a three course meal and a bone-crushing hug for each of them.

"Oh, Harry, Arthur and I've been so worried about you, Ginny wrote and told us everything; What next? Werewolves and Lethifolds at Hogwarts, can you imagine? And that business with your ribs, Ginny was so upset..."

"Mum!" Ginny cut in, blushing slightly.

"It's alright, Mrs. Weasley," Harry groaned, carefully extrapolating himself from her tight embrace, "I'm fine, you know I've seen worse than that anyway." 

"Yes, I suppose so. But you really must be careful, these are still dangerous times after all, I suppose... But anyways, Ron'll be so happy to see you two when he gets back from work, he's been getting a bit lonely around here with you lot off at school. Speak of the Devil, there they are!"

There was a loud clattering coming from the front door, and Ron appeared in the doorframe. Without so much as looking around, he threw himself into a chair. "What's for dinner? I'm starving..."

"Long day?" Harry asked, grinning.

Ron jumped about a mile. "Harry, what in the- Ginny? What're you two doing here?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "It's Christmas break, remember? It can't've been two days since we told you last..."

"Oh yeah... Well I've been busy." Ron began defensively. "This week's been an absolute nightmare. Two blokes got in a duel, right in the middle of a Muggle Suburb... Honestly, if you've got to blast somebody to bits, can't you at least do it in private? Nobody got hurt too badly, but they blew some old bag's house to pieces, and she won't let it go. Three memory charms, and still nothing, so now we've got to come up with a story to satisfy her." He paused to take a deep breath. "And as if that wasn't enough, a ghoul got loose and went berserk in another town, have the people saw it. We're trying to pass it off as somebody playing a Halloween prank."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "A Halloween prank? In December?"

"It's not going so well."

"I can imagine."

"Anyway, how've things been at Hogwarts? Any thing interesting happen since the last time I was there?"

"Depends on how you define 'interesting.'" Said Ginny coldly. "If you mean Harry nearly getting killed, then I suppose not."

"Not exactly how I'd define it, I mean, come on, it happens every other week or so..."

Harry could see Ginny cooking up a retort, and made to intervene, but Mrs. Weasley was faster. "Alright, that's more than enough of that, dinner's getting cold."

Harry was awoken from a sound sleep on Christmas morning by a blow to the head from a very sturdy object. He shot bolt upright and swung his head around so fast that he cricked his neck. "Sorry, mate," said Ron, who was standing by the door, grinning broadly, "but it's Christmas morning, after all! I still can't believe that you don't even feel a little bit compelled to wake up early on Christmas day..."

"I've never had a reason to, I suppose." Harry yawned. Indeed, the best present that he'd ever received from the Dursleys was an old pair of socks.

"Fair enough, I guess. But still presents!"

"Thanks, I guess." Harry said examining the object that Ron had thrown at him. It was a carefully wrapped gift, but Harry's stomach sank at the sight of it. The label read _'To Harry Potter, From Rita Skeeter.'_ He slowly tore off the wrappings, dreading what he'd find inside. "Well... Shit." It was a book; the cover illustration was a picture of Harry, an oddly blank and somewhat disturbing expression on his face. It was emblazoned '_Harry Potter: Hero or Headcase?:_'with the subheading: _'The authorized biography of Harry Potter.'_ A note slipped out from under the front cover. It read:

_Dear Potty,_

_I figured that you probably wouldn't bother buying a copy for yourself, so I took the liberty of sending you a signed first edition copy. I imagine you probably won't bother reading it anyway, but I suppose I owe you that much._

_ P.S.- Sorry about the authorized typo on the cover; seems there was a bit of a miscommunication with the publisher, so all of the first edition copies will say that. Hope you don't mind._

"What's that?" Said Ron, peering at the book's cover over Harry's shoulder. "Hm. Flattering. I'd toss it if I were you, mate."

"Good idea." Harry agreed, tossing the book in the waste bin.

Despite a bad start to the day, the rest of the festivities were quite enjoyable; all of the Weasleys, including Bill and Fleur, had come to stay at the Burrow, and the house was bustling with activity and Christmas spirit. Ginny had gone slightly overboard with decorations now that she was allowed to use magic to assist her (there was scarcely a surface that wasn't covered in paper chains or tinsel), and Mrs. Weasley had somehow bewitched the tree to sing Christmas carols, albeit slightly out of key. It had just finished singing '_I Saw Three Brooms_,' when Mrs. Weasley called Harry into the kitchen, where she was busy preparing an enormous meal.

"Harry, Ginny slipped off to say hello to the Lovegoods, but it's been nearly an hour, and I'm starting to worry that she'll be late for dinner." She said, pointing her wand at numerous pots and cauldrons, all of which were stirring themselves. "Would you be a dear and go fetch her?"

"Sure thing, Mrs. Weasley."

"That's a good boy, and hurry back!"

Harry slipped out through the crowd in the living room out the front door. He took a moment to look up at the sky; there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the stars and the moon cast a bright light over the village. Taking a deep breath of the cool, fresh air, he set of toward the Lovegood house. It was further than he'd remembered; he was beginning to wish that he'd brought his broom as he cut through the marshes and forests. He was starting to grow a bit frustrated with all the brush, when he heard a crunching noise from his left side. He whirled around, but there was nothing there. He began on his way, but it hadn't been five minutes when he heard a short, strangled shout from behind him. He started to draw his wand and turn around, but he was interrupted by a horribly familiar grisly voice.

"Don't move, Potter. Drop the wand, and turn around nice and slow..."

Author's Note: DUN DUN DUN! Who could it be? Seriously, I want to know if you can guess. I think I've dropped a few hints... But we'll see. I'll tell you what- whoever can tell me who it is gets... Something. Ok. Nothing. But there's always the satisfaction of victory, right? Come on, you're smart people, you can figure it out. So tell me what you think. **AND ANSWER THE POLL.** (Is this excessive? Maybe. Do I care? Not one bit).

Now that I'm back on my game...

Starzinmyeyez: Gotta say, I'm really glad that you like it. I was worried that it would come of as lazy, because to be honest, it was lazy. But I insist on doing my writing at 2 AM, so that tends to happen. There's a time to quit, and that time is about 5 AM for me. Those are the breaks.

Fairyfiona: I think it was better too, but actually less important for the overall plot. Either way, the last few chapters have just been a bit aimless, so I'm focusing on getting the story back on track. Enough with foreshadowing for now. But make no mistake, I have been laying trails. And false trails. And false false trails. So watch out.


	19. Chapter 19

Author's Note: I have a good feeling about this one. I've got direction, and I think that it'll go well. I've been running over ideas, and I think that I've set things up right. Also... **THE FREAKIN POLL. AT THE TOP OF MY PROFILE. ANSWER IT. NOW. I'M GOING TO KEEP DOING THIS UNTIL IT WORKS. BECAUSE THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE I CAN THINK OF IS TO WITHOLD CHAPTERS, BUT I'M JUST NOT THAT KIND OF PERSON. SO DO IT. FOR ME? OKAY. LET'S ROLL.**

"You hear me, Potter? Drop the wand and turn around... No sudden movements."

Harry slowly turned around, and felt his stomach clench in fear. The first thing he saw was Ginny, her eyes wide in fear; the second was Fenrir Greyback standing directly behind her. Ginny's arms were tightly bound behind her back, and a cloth had been crudely shoved in her mouth to keep her quiet. Greyback had one arm wrapped around her neck, and was using the second to keep his wand pointed directly at her head

Harry dropped his wand on the ground in front of him, making sure that Greyback could see. "What the hell do you want?" Harry asked, putting as much malice as he could into his voice.

"Watch your tone, Potter... I'm here for you. Come quietly, and your little girlfriend might be alive in the morning..."

Harry carefully considered his options; there was nothing for it. He'd have to stall for time until he could do something to tweak the circumstances in his favor. "What do you need me for?"

"That's none of your business, Potter... At least not yet."

Suddenly, a realization hit him. "Wait... You organized the werewolves that attacked me in the Forbidden Forest!"

Greyback growled. "Well aren't we the clever one. Of course I sent them, if that was just a werewolf attack, you would've been ripped limb from limb. I told them to take you alive. Nearly had you too. But no matter now."

"Why? What do you want with me?"

"All I know is that someone wants to see you, and I'm getting a nice bit of gold to bring you to 'em."

Harry was intrigued despite himself. "Who sent you?"

"Well, you'll find out soon enough, won't you? My patience is running out, Potter."

"How did you get inside the castle grounds? There's no way the security would've missed you..."

"I never left, Potter. After you killed the Dark Lord, I managed to run deep into the forest, and I've been there since. I've been hiding among my werewolf brethren there."

"And you let the Lethifold in?"

"I don't know nothin' 'bout no Lethifold..." Greyback growled, growing agitated. :You must have more enemies than you know. Wouldn't surprise me for a second."

"What are they paying you?" Said Harry, desperate for time. Greyback wasn't taking his bait, and the brief answers wouldn't buy him enough time. He knew that he didn't have much more time before Greyback started to get suspicious, and the odds of drawing him into a conversation seemed to be growing smaller. "I have gold, I can pay you."

Greyback let out a short, barking laughing. "Make no mistake, Potter, I'm taking the money because I'm not an idiot. But this is personal. You see my face?" Harry leaned forward slightly to get a better look at Greyback's face; it was even more severely disfigured than he remembered. The worst was his left eye; it was closed shut, and was covered by a long scar that ran down his cheek. "That was from you and your ratty little friends got away from the Malfoy's place... The Dark Lord was so angry when he showed up and you weren't there... I've never seen such a sight..." He snapped back into focus. "But I'll get you back for that tonight. I'll hand you off, and might even be allowed to keep your pretty little friend here as a pet!" He let out another sickening laugh. It was fortunate that he couldn't see the expression on Ginny's face.

"Well... This has been a nice little chat, but I think that it's time for us to go." He pressed his wand hard into Ginny's temple. "Now, Potter! Or I cut her throat now, and take you by force."

Harry could see that he'd run out of time, and that he had no more options. He'd have to go wherever Greyback wanted him to and hope that he was lucky enough to escape. Ginny could see the thought forming in his mind; she let out a muffled cry of protest.

"I'll go with you if you let her go."

Greyback laughed at him. "No deal, Potter, but nice try. I'm calling the shots here. Like I said, you come with me or I kill her right here."

Harry let out a deep sigh. He could see that there was no negotiating. He started to walk toward Greyback. The werewolf saw Harry moving toward him and relaxed his grip on Ginny, who saw her chance to act. She kicked her leg up behind her as hard as she could, catching Greyback directly between the legs. He howled in pain, losing control and shooting a jet of sparks out of the tip of his wand, catching Ginny in the face. She let out a muffled scream, but managed to stumble away.

At the first opportunity, Harry reached down and grabbed his wand. He focused as hard as he could, and thought 'HELP!' He pointed it at the Burrow and shouted "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" The silver stag erupted from the tip of his wand, and dashed away towards the house. He then rushed forward to help Ginny; he tugged her out of Greyback's reach, and pulled the gag out of her mouth. "Diffindo!" He muttered, severing the ropes around her arms. She fell to the ground, panting heavily. Harry carefully leaned her against a tree; the right half of her face was bleeding rather heavily, and she seemed slightly dazed.

Meanwhile, Greyback had been regaining his bearings. "You'll pay for that one, you little bitch..." He growled. I guess we do this the hard way, then. He raised his wand and shot a blast of light at Harry who only just managed to deflect the spell.

They dueled furiously, lighting up the entire forest. Harry was at a rather severe disadvantage, as he had to protect a fading Ginny as well as defending himself. His Defense Against the Dark Arts experience served him well, though; he managed to hold his own for a time. Finally, he managed to land a solid Leg-locker curse. At the exact same time, Greyback shot a large jet of white light, catching Harry directly in the chest. Harry felt as though all of the wind had been knocked out his lungs. He looked down, and saw blood staining with his robes, but he ignored it; he couldn't afford to lose focus.

Greyback was righting himself too; he performed the counterjinx, and sneered at Harry. "A Leg-Locker curse? You'll need to do better than that. If you won't go for the kill, then you don't stand a chance."

Harry did his best to right himself. He resumed dueling, but he couldn't keep up as easily with the wound in his chest. He was only moments away from collapsing, when a jet of blue light came from out of nowhere, catching Greyback off guard. Ron appeared in a gap in the trees, ready to take up the duel. "HARRY? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" He shouted, doing his best to keep his attention on Greyback.

"I'm alright, but I can't keep this up much longer..." Harry panted.

"Just hold on, I ran ahead, but Dad, Bill, and Charlie were right behind me."

Surely enough, the Weasleys emerged from behind the trees surrounding Greyback. He took a short look around, realizing that he was completely outnumbered, and apparated away.

As soon as he was gone, Mr. Weasley rushed forward to examine Ginny, and Ron moved to help Harry stand up. "Harry, what in the hell just happened?"

"Not now, Ron." Said Mr. Weasley urgently. "Let's get them back to the house, we can talk more there." He carefully lifted Ginny, and began to carry her back toward the Burrow. Ron put an arm under Harry's shoulders, carrying some of his weight, which Harry was incredibly grateful, as the blood loss was beginning to make him feel dizzy. Ron Heaved him upwards, and they began to make their way home.

Author's Note: When in doubt, a kick in the nads will usually do the trick. Sorry if I creeped anybody out; I go a little crazy with the depraved psychopaths. The last story I wrote was Justice League, and I had a blast with the Joker. But I digress. I did try to keep it at a T rating, and I _think_ I met the standard. But it is a bit dark by comparison to the rest of the story so far. Just to lighten things up, I've given this chapter the unofficial title "How Fenrir Greyback Stole Christmas."

Silent Shootting Star: Nailed it. As a reward for being the only person to guess correctly (or try, for that matter), I bequeath upon you the title of "Supreme Overlord of Foreshadowing and Future Prediction." Congratulations. You earned it. By the way, I tried to start a DocX connection, did that go through?

Starzinmyeyez: Aye, thar be some action indeed. I hope it met expectations. And don't worry, when I do use cliffhangers, I try to update within 24 hours. Don't like to keep people hanging too much, after all.


	20. Chapter 20

Author's Note: After this one, I think I'm going to take a break and go back to the storyboard. We could be getting close to the end, but I still have some tricks up my sleeve. So I'm not really sure what I want to do after this one, but I'll figure it out. I have at least six more chapters mapped out at the moment, but I'd like about ten to flesh things out. Again, this is all tentative. But I'll need some time to think. Also, the poll is still open, and still struggling. So please do me a kindness and take a moment to answer it.

The trek back to the Burrow was long and slow; Harry's wound was beginning to bleed rather badly, and it was growing harder and harder for him to carry his own weight. By the time they'd reached the edge of the forest, Ron was supporting Harry almost entirely. As they staggered past the line of trees, Mrs. Weasley came into view, sprinting as fast as she could toward the forest.

"Arthur, thank goodness, I was just about to come after you! Did you find him- MERLIN, WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED?" She stopped short at the sight of Harry's bloodstained robes, nearly falling forward.

Mr. Weasley emerged from the forest, carrying a half-concious Ginny. "It's alright, We've got them, Molly."

Mrs. Weasley nearly fainted at the sight of her daughter. "GINNY! Arthur, is she alright?"

"She should be fine, Molly, but we need to get inside. We can talk then, it's not safe out here."

Mrs. Weasley rushed to open the door and let them in. George, Percy, and Fleur were all sitting around the table looking tense; the food that Mrs. Weasley had worked so hard to prepare sat untouched. Mr. Weasley tenderly placed Ginny on the couch while Mrs. Weasley ran to get her medical kit. Now that her face was thrown into sharp relief by the light, Harry could see how bad her injuries looked; evidently, Greyback's discharging wand had caught her full on in the face. Blood was dripping down from the large wound just above her cheek, and a large part of the right side of her face was covered in cuts and angry burns. Mrs. Weasley returned promptly, carrying an enormous box of jars and bottles. She started by siphoning away the blood that had accumulated; she then began to slowly move her wand back and forth over her injuries, causing the small cuts to close instantly. The central hole where the blast had hit proved to be more stubborn, but Mrs. Weasley's skilled hands managed to close it up at long last. As she finished by applying an enormous amount of burn cream, Ginny began to stir. Her right eye opened slowly at first, but she shot upward suddenly, whipping her wand out of her pocket.

"Shh, shh, it's alright, we're at home, everything's fine." Mrs. Weasley murmured soothingly, stroking Ginny's hair.

Ginny whirled her head around, a bewildered expression on her face. "What- did you- Harry- What happened? Where' is he?" She sputtered, trying to get her thoughts together.

"I'm right here, it's alright. Greyback got scared and bolted." Said Harry. Ginny looked over at where he was sitting and relaxed visibly. Mrs. Weasley pulled his robes away from his chest to examine the wound on his chest. He was glad that he hadn't looked earlier; it was a gruesome sight. There was an enormous slash running from his shoulder to the bottom of his chest. The edges of the cut were uneven and bruised, and the whole thing was bleeding heavily.

"That looks nasty, but I should be able to patch it up... This type of Dark Magic isn't my specialty, but I can at least close it up and give you a blood-replenishing potion." The wound seemed to resist closing, but after several minutes of intense focus, she managed to seal it. She poured Harry a glass of a thick, amber colored liquid from a glass bottle. He gulped it down; it had a thick, unpleasant texture and tasted strongly of iron, but it cleared his head. Ron helped him to stand up and move over to the couch next to Ginny. Mr. Weasley sat down across from him and polished his glasses carefully. Finally, he put his glasses back on and looked Harry in the eyes.

"So..." He started slowly. "Obviously, something's going on here, and we need to know exactly what happened."

Ginny took a deep breath and began to speak. " I was walking back from Luna's, and Greyback jumped me. He was hiding behind a tree... He was too fast. He tied me to a tree and made me wait while he went to look around. He came back, cut me from the tree, pointed his wand at me, then Harry showed up."

Harry picked up the story; "He told me that he wanted to get back at me for the last time we met, and that he wanted us to go somewhere with him. Ginny kicked him and managed to get away. I sent you the Patronus and dueled him for a bit. Then Ron showed up and blasted him, and you guys showed up."

Harry had a feeling that Mr. Weasley knew that he wasn't telling the whole story, but he didn't ask any more questions. "Well, I doubt that he'll come back, but I think it'd be best if we cast protective enchantments just in case." He stood up, and went outside; flashes from the window let the rest of the family know that he was hard at work casting defensive spells. Meanwhile, Ginny used her wand to remove the cream from her face; her skin had healed nicely, but the freshly grown bits were still pale.

"Yes... Well..." Mrs. Weasley sighed as Mr. Weasley returned. "I suppose that we'd best make the best of the situation." The family sat down to eat, but the earlier events had sobered the happy occasion. After a subdued meal, Harry, Ron, and Ginny went up to bed early, stopping on the stairs to talk in private.

"So Greyback's the one who's been trying to kill you?" Ron asked, folding his arms and leaning against the wall.

"Yeah... Well, sort of, at least." Harry said thoughtfully. "He said he was working for somebody. And he didn't seem to know anything about the Lethifold."

"So... Does that mean that there are two people trying to kill you?" Ron's forehead scrunched in deep thought. "I can't make heads or tails of all this, I'll write to Hermione before I go to bed. She'll be able to figure something out. Anyway, you two should get some rest." He climbed the stairs to his bedroom on the top floor, still lost in thought.

"Harry, can you come in here for a bit?" Said Ginny, opening the door to her room. He followed her in, not sure of what to expect.

"Harry... You know that I like it when you play the hero. It's one of my favorite things about you, after all..." She leaned in and kissed him deeply. For a moment, he was lost in bliss, but she pulled away quickly. "But if you ever try to sacrifice yourself for me like that again, I'll make sure I kill you myself."

She pushed him from the room. Harry stood in the hallway for a moment, feeling lost. He slowly made his way up to his bedroom, wondering if he'd ever understand women.

Author's note: And so ends the tale of how Fenrir Greyback ruined Christmas. I said most of the things I wanted to at the beginning, so I'll just use this space to ask you to leave reviews and check out my poll.

Starzinmyeyes: Fight scenes are always nice. It's a shame it's so tricky to fit them into this type of story. And I actually had to restrain myself a bit to keep the rating down. Sometimes I worry, but oh well. Somebody's gotta write disturbing characters.

Evans317: Glad you liked it, I aim to please!


	21. Chapter 21

Author's Note: Alright, this could be a bit on the short side, but think of it as a bonus. This will probably be one of the ones that I go back and attach to another chapter after I've finished the story. But, I do have some news about future plans. But I'll save those for the end because I don't like to type too much up here. But I will say that you should review and check out my poll. Because I don't think that I say that enough.

Harry slept restlessly that night; every howl of the wind sounded like a werewolf's cry, and every rustling of the grass sounded like a new threat approaching. After the day's events, he found it very difficult to fall asleep, which made it that much more frustrating when he was awakened early the next morning to find his shoulders being shaken vigorously.

"Harry! HARRY! Wake UP!"

Harry shot bolt upright, and found his face caught in a tangle of bushy brown hair. "What in the- Hermione?" He slowly opened his eyes; sure enough, Hermione was standing next to his bed, looking rather tired. Her hair was even bushier than usual and there were shadows under her eyes; evidently she'd left in quite a hurry. Ginny was standing in the doorway wearing a grumpy expression that told Harry quite clearly that she'd been awakened in the same fashion that he had. He looked down at his watch and groaned. "What the hell, Hermione, it's five o'clock in the morning..."

"I know, I know, but I've been worried." She fidgeted nervously. "Ron wrote to me last night, and I know you must be tired, but I was so worried that I didn't sleep at all and I had to come first thing today." She said, all in one breath.

"It's alright, we're both fine." Said Harry groggily, patting Hermione on the back and doing his best not to doze off again.

"I just needed to be sure... But this is awful, worse than I thought... Fenrir Greyback, I should have known, I should have figured it out after the werewolves attacked you..."

"Calm down, Hermione, there's no way that you could have known. There's no way that _anybody_ could have known he stayed in the forest. Even Hagrid didn't find him, and he goes in there all the time." Said Ginny, stepping forward.

"I guess you're right, but still... I can't believe this." She said miserably. "I guess that we should probably wake up Ron."

"He'll love that." Said Ginny, grinning mischievously. "Let's go."

Harry yawned and slowly followed them upstairs. When he arrived in Ron's bedroom, Hermione and Ginny were both bent over the bed trying to wake him, to no avail. "Is he... Okay?" Said Hermione, sounding worried.

"Yeah, he's fine, just thick." Said Ginny, rolling up her sleeves and pulling out her wand. "Stand back, it's time for drastic measures." She pointed her wand at Ron's face and whispered _"Aguamenti."_ A thin stream of cold water issued from the tip of her wand, hitting him directly between the eyes. He jumped so hard that he nearly fell out of bed.

"BLOODY HELL! WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN'S STUDDED LEATHER JACKET DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" He spotted Hermione, and pulled his covers up to his chin. "And what are you doing here? Blimey, it's barely dawn..."

"This is important, Ron!" Said Hermione reproachfully. "They could have died last night! We need to talk about this as soon as possible, before something else happens!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Said Harry grimly.

"Don't be like that, Harry. You've been excellent so far, but you need to be prepared for anything. I think you should start by telling me everything that happened last night."

Harry sighed, thinking of his warm and cozy bed, but he couldn't ignore the truth in her words. Somewhat reluctantly, he began to recount the events of the previous night. Hermione paced the room while she listened, pausing only to ask clarifying questions. Finally, Harry finished, and she sat down at Ron's desk and placed her head in her hands. "This _is_ bad... Harry, this is concrete proof that somebody is after you."

"Right, I was beginning to think that I was just really unlucky." Said Harry dully. "I thought we already knew that?"

"Of course, but this is even worse. Harry, think about it. We're dealing with somebody who's willing to deal with scum like Greyback to get to you. But... It just doesn't make sense."

Harry waited for her to continue, but she seemed to be lost in thought. He coughed loudly, shaking her from her reverie. "What doesn't make sense, exactly?"

"The Lethifold... Greyback was behind the Werewolves, but who sent the Lethifold?" She said, pulling her hair thoughtfully.

"Maybe it was whoever's giving Greyback orders?" Said Ginny, taking up Hermione's pacing. "Maybe they got in contact with him after the Lethifold failed?"

"No, that can't be. Remember, Greyback said he was supposed to bring Harry alive? The Lethifold would've killed him in minutes... Even the werewolves were only trying to drag him off. Honestly, wake up!" She said loudly, throwing a book at Ron, who'd begun to snore loudly. "So that means that there could be two people after Harry... But how did the second person reach Greyback anyway? Who could've known that he'd be there? And the first must've had contacts inside the castle to let the Lethifold in... So there are two people in Hogwarts trying to get Harry? No, that's not possible... None of this makes any sense at all..."

"Thanks, Hermione. I feel much better, now." Said Harry sarcastically.

"Oh, Harry, I didn't mean it like that! It's just... I can't think of anything else."

"Always the popular one, Harry." Ginny said, stopping her pacing to stand next to Harry and rub his back comfortingly. It could be worse, though..."

"How could it be worse? I don't know who's trying to kill me, or even _how many_ separate plans to kill me are going on right now."

"I don't know, just assume that it could be worse and be glad that you don't have to find out how."

"Right, well..." Hermione cleared her throat. "I think that you've just touched down on the most important thing... _Who._ We don't have any new leads about the Lethifold, and you're sure that Greyback didn't say anything about who sent him? Wake up, Ron! This is important!"

"Positive. He just said that somebody wanted me alive."

"Harry..." Ginny lowered her voice. "You don't think it could be... You-Know-Who, do you?"

Harry thought for a moment. "I don't think so. Whoever sent him said that they wanted me alive. I'd imagine Voldemort wouldn't bother, he'd just have me killed."

"But he has tried to lure you into traps before." Said Hermione reasonably. "Remember the TriWizard Tournament? And the Department of Mysteries?"

"That's true, but neither of those tricks ended well for him, remember? He took my blood and it got him killed, he sent me after the prophecy, and it got smashed."

Hermione closed her eyes again. "I guess that's true... But what if it's about the prophecy? It said that he would have to kill you himself. Maybe he thinks that a mercenary would be a waste of time?"

Harry shook his head again. "No... I don't sense him at all." He said, tapping his scar. "Even if he _is_ still alive, he's weak. Definitely not in fighting shape. He wouldn't come after me unless he was in top form."

Hermione folded her arms and legs and sighed deeply. "Like I said, none if this makes any sense... There are so many contradictions... I guess there's still nothing to for it except-"

"Be careful, I know, I know..." Harry interrupted. "Although, it really doesn't seem to matter much."

"I know it's frustrating, Harry, but we'll get to the bottom of this, I'm sure of it. I just need some time to think, and I'll- RON, WAKE UP!"

Author's Note: I'm glad I did this. I think I got around to some important plot points, and got some important discussions out of the way. Overall, not as much of a waste as I'd originally expected. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this one. On a side note, I kind of went into a bit of a trance while I was writing this. When I snapped out of it, I was just done, and I was listening into a techno remix of the Soviet National Anthem (which you have to admit is possibly the most inspiring national anthem in history).

Now, down to business. For those of you who bother to read this, I'd like you to register an opinion(and I'm hoping that I get more of a response than usual). I'm at a bit of a crossroads here. I could either keep going strong with the plot (which I think might rush things a bit), or I could write some chapters that wouldn't do much to advance the plot, but could further explore Harry and Ginny's relationship. So if you have an opinion, send it my way.

I'm thinking about taking down the 'progress meter' I've been keeping on my page; it's not difficult to maintain, but to be honest, I don't think that many people find it useful. As always, correct me if I'm wrong.

I had a bit more to say about sequels, but I think that I'll save that for next time when my ideas are more fleshed out and I have more space. But as usual, review and check out my poll.

Clairepeanuts: I don't really know how to respond, except to say that I am incredibly flattered. That's the really cool thing about this site; there's something for everybody's tastes. Thank you so much for your feedback.

Starzinmyeyez: It wasn't the fighting so much as the dialogue that I was worried about; that's where I tend to go overboard. I reeled it back in, but I've got some crazy stuff planned out for the finale, so I might let it slide through then. It can be a bit tricky to accurately portray a sociopath like Greyback or Voldemort and keep the rating down, you know?


	22. Chapter 22

Author's Note: Damn, you guys are apathetic. I mean, not that I'm not, but still... What does it take to get through to you people? I guess that since it doesn't seem to matter, I'm going to be putting the main plot on the back burner for a bit. The main upside to the situation is that it buys me some time to develop ideas, and the overall story is longer. The downside is a slightly diluted plot. But I guess if you guys don't care...

I'm feeling a bit uninspired, so I wouldn't expect much right now.

Harry felt much better after several cups of coffee; the pounding headache gradually disappeared. Hermione had decided that she might as well spend the day at the Burrow, as she'd been meaning to stop by at some point anyway. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were rather surprised to see her there so early, but they reacted warmly to her presence all the same. As Mrs. Weasley passed out bacon and eggs, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny discussed what they would do with the day.

"Maybe we could go to Diagon Alley?" Ginny suggested, stretching her arms.

"I'm not so sure that that's a good idea, with everything-" Hermione started.

"Yeah," Ron interrupted, "it'd be nice to get out of the house for a bit."

"I don't think so." Said Mrs. Weasley firmly. "Not after last night. I think it'd be best if you just stayed here for the day."

"Aw, mum..." Ginny pleaded. "Diagon Alley'll be safe, there are wizards everywhere there. You'd have to be stupid to attack somebody there!"

"She's right, Molly." Said Mr. Weasley rationally. "As long as they don't go anywhere near Knockturn Alley, which is a good rule in general, they should be fine. And besides, they're all of age."

Mrs. Weasley looked as though she was about to continue to protest, but she seemed to realize that she was outnumbered and conceded defeat. "Alright, alright. You can go... But you need to be careful. Sometimes I wonder if the Muggles are right, having their children come of age at eighteen... Seventeen is just too young."

Just over an hour later, they were in the Leaky Cauldron, excitedly planning out the rest of the day. Diagon Alley was as busy as it ever had been, and all of the shops were packed with witches and wizards taking advantage of the post-Christmas sales. However, one figure stood out above all the rest. Hagrid's enormous stature made him clearly visible from 50 yards.

"Hello, Hagrid!" Shouted Harry, tugging on Hagrid's sleeve to get his attention. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?"

"Oh, yeh know." Hagrid shifted uncomfortably. "Jus' takin' a personal day, yeh know, doin' a bit o' shoppin'." He finished transparently.

"Hagrid, Mum wrote, didn't she?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah... She wrote early an' tol' me 'bout what happened yesterday, an' I asked if I wouldn' be willin' to come an' keep an' eye on you lot. So I said 'O' course,' and I went to get the day off. Jus' got here meself. Sorry, I didn' mean ter bother yeh, but I've always had a bit o' trouble stayin' in the background..."

"It's no problem, Hagrid, the more the merrier!" Said Hermione, who seemed to be somewhat reassured by Hagrid's presence. "Say, what's going on at Flourish and Blott's?"

Harry turned around to look where she was pointing; there was an enormous line leading out the door, and there was an excited buzz surrounding the store. "I dunno. Let's get a closer look."

As they drew closer, the buzzing grew louder, and the crowd parted to let them through. Harry couldn't imagine why, until he got close enough to see the desk set up in the back of the shop.

"Harry! I had no idea that _you_ would be coming!" Rita Skeeter was sitting in the back of the shop, surrounded by enormous printouts of her latest book. She was holding an enormous purple quill and signing copies of the book. "Can somebody pull up a chair?"

"I'm not staying long." Harry said coldly, moving close enough that he could talk without being overheard. "But what the hell is up with this? _'Authorized biography?'_ I never authorized this!"

"Harry, Harry, Harry! I thought I explained all of this in the note." She said, some of the false cheer fading from her voice. "You see, there was a miscommunication involving that little piece that we did for the Quibbler a few years back, which if I recall correctly, you did authorize and... Well, it's all very complicated. I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"I'll bet." Harry growled. Ginny placed a warning hand on his shoulder.

"Not here." She hissed in his ear. "Don't let her get to you, it's what she wants."

"Now, Harry, don't be that way, they'll have the issue fixed for future issues, so no harm done. Why don't you just make the best of the situation, and pull up a chair and sign some books? I'm sure that there are some people who'd like to have your little friends' autographs as well!" Said Rita loudly in what she evidently intended to be a friendly and enticing voice.

"I'd sooner die." Harry said, resisting the urge to spit on her.

"Now, now... There's no need to be so hostile, Harry! We're all friends here, after all!" She lowered her voice so that nobody but Harry and his friends would be able to hear. "But I guess it works for me either way." She said grimly. "Even if you won't stay, I guess I've got an article for tomorrow's paper, hm? I can see it now... _'Harry Potter refuses to sign books for loyal fans.'_ It doesn't have much of a ring to it, but I daresay that I'll come up with something by tomorrow." She leaned back in her chair and took the next customer's book.

Harry stood rooted to the spot for a moment, too angry to even respond, until Hagrid's enormous hand grabbed him by the shoulder and forcibly turned him away from the desk. "Come on, Harry, don' want ter be late..." Hagrid said nervously, pushing Harry toward the exit."

"How can- What- Where does she get off doing this?" Harry sputtered as they walked down the street. "As if I don't have enough on my plate without dealing with her..."

"Ignore 'er, Harry. The people who are stupid enough to believe her aren' worth yer time anyway." Hagrid said sagely. "It's no big deal, she's wastin' her time tryin' ter turn people against yeh anyways. Yer a hero, remember?"

"Hagrid's right, Harry." Said Ginny soothingly. "It's not like anything that she has to say matters anyway."

"Yeah, I guess..." Said Harry, despite still feeling frustrated.

"Tell yeh what, Harry, let's head down ter the Leaky Cauldron, drinks are on me. That oughta make yeh feel a bit better."

Two rounds of firewhiskey later, Harry had forgotten all about Rita Skeeter. Hagrid was deeply engaged in conversation with a couple of old warlocks at the next table, and Ginny was watching Ron and Hermione who were kissing with a near-sickening passion.

"Can you imagine what he'd say if it was us doing that?" She said, torn between disgust and amusement.

"Hm." Harry mumbled in agreement. He remembered the time that he and Ron had walked in on her and Dean kissing, and Ron had nearly murdered Dean. Although to be fair, he thought, he hadn't felt much different.

"Then again," she said coyly, "he does seem a bit busy at the moment." She drew closer. "He probably wouldn't even notice.

Author's Note: And... Cut! That's a wrap. It's not much, but I don't like to go more than two days without posting. It kind of makes me worry that I'll lose my motivation. So I hope that you don't mind a bit of dreck.

Now for that bit of info on sequels that I promised last week and forgot about. I'm thinking that I'll _start_ the alternate sequel that I've mentioned and see where it goes. Meanwhile, the second installment will probably be short; less than half the length of this one. I'd estimate between 15-20k words. The third and fourth ones should be good though. I've got some ideas that I like, and plenty of time to brainstorm.

So, leave me some feedback if you have thoughts. Or even if you don't. Either way is fine by me.

Starzinmyeyez: To be honest, I can't say that I would fare much better that early in the morning. Glad you liked it!

SilentShoottingStar: Remember that title, I'm forming my own hierarchy. It's going to be a thing. And I didn't actually send a file yet, to do that you have to form a 'connection' under the DocX menu in the profile sidebar that has to be mutually confirmed by both parties (it says 'pending right now) ... So yeah, PM might be the way to go. And no worries, I think I'll keep posting even though I don't know what I'm saying. Just because.


	23. Chapter 23

Author's Note: I'M BAAAACCCKKK! BACK IN THE SADDLE AGA-A-AIN! Not much to say here, just that you should make sure to read the end note on this chapter, even if you usually don't And if anybody can tell me how to properly illustrate a Steven Tyler scream via text, please message me.

Despite his vacation not quite living up to his expectations, Harry returned to Hogwarts feeling relaxed and ready to teach again; all things considered, he'd take unruly students over werewolves any day.

The downside to being back at the castle was that Harry and Ginny were both busier than ever. As exams drew nearer and workloads grew heavier, Harry found that they had even less time together than before, and the fact that they'd spent all of their vacation together only made it more difficult.

On top of their increased workloads, Ginny was driving her quidditch team harder than ever, determined not to lose another game. She had them practicing for hours on end virtually every night, and the results were beginning to show. She still wasn't quite satisfied with her new keeper, John Candas, but her chasers and beaters more than made up for him. To top it all off, she'd worked with Harry to come up with some excellent strategies that would help keep the Quaffle well away from the Gryffindor end of the pitch.

When the day of the game finally came, the team was feeling excited but tense; Ginny was nearly silent all throughout breakfast. When Harry and Hermione wished her good luck, she only nodded distractedly before leaving the Great Hall, murmuring under her breath.

Harry and Hermione followed suit and left to take their seats behind the Slytherin goalpost, where they were met by Hagrid, Neville, and Luna. As Harry sat down to wait for the game to start, he realized how much he'd missed playing Quidditch.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," a voice rang throughout the stadium, "it's another fine day for quidditch, and today we're looking at one of the most highly anticipated matches of the season. Slytherin's been dominant in the rankings so far, but the Gryffindor team has a lot of natural talent on their side this year. There's been a buzz about what the team will do without Harry Potter, who's been a mainstay on the team for six years, but Weasley's put together a killer team and they've been working hard. So this could be their shot at redemption after being crushed by Ravenclaw. So, without further ado," the announcer said as the teams marched onto the field, "let the game begin!"

Madame Hooch stepped into the middle of the field, and Ginny grudgingly shook hands with the Slytherin captain. All fourteen players mounted their brooms, and the game began. Ginny was the first to the quaffle; she grabbed it out of the air and charged down the field, passing the ball so fast that the commentator could barely keep up.

"And it's Weasley to Robins to Freeman to Weasley to Robins, and back to Weasley, back to Robins, back to Weasley and... GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" The Gryffindor section of the crowd erupted into wild cheering. "Gryffindor's off to a very strong start, this is definitely going to be an interesting game. And, we resume play, with Slytherin in possession... Nott passes to Abrahamson- and Abrahamson passes and- No, he's fumbled, and Robins has the quaffle, passes to Freeman, to Weasley, to Freeman, and Freeman scores!"

Gryffindor continued to dominate the match; after only fifteen minutes, they were leading 80-10. As the scores grew further apart, the Slytherins became increasingly desperate, resorting to their usual rough tactics.

"Freeman passes Weasley, who hands it off to Robins- Oh, that looked nasty..." The crowd shouted angrily; Fielding, one of the Slytherin beaters, had tried to hit the Quaffle with his bat as Ginny passed to her fellow Chaser Demezla Robins, but had missed and instead caught Demezla in the shoulder. Ginny called timeout and helped Demezla to land. Harry could see them talking on the ground; Ginny nodded, and Demezla slouched off the field, clutching her shoulder.

"And it looks like Robins is out of the game, and Weasley's decided to carry on with only two Chasers; that's a risky move on her part, but it doesn't look like she has any other options at this point. And Weasley steps up to take the penalty shot; she sinks it, and the game is back on.

Somehow, Gryffindor managed to hold their own and keep the score in their favor (140-30), but the Slytherin's playing continued to get dirtier. It got to the point that Harry wondered what they could possibly be hoping to achieve; they were continuing to fail to score, while Gryffindor was dominating on penalty points alone. The violence culminated as Ginny and Freeman tore up the field, flying low so they could avoid the keeper more easily. As Ginny clutched the quaffle, both Slytherin beaters rushed at her, volleying a bludger between them. Fielding launched the bludger at her, but she smoothly rolled and managed to avoid it. As she resurfaced from the roll, the second beater stuck an arm out, catching her by the throat.

Harry saw what happened next in slow motion; Ginny's head flew backwards, and she rolled back off of her broom. She landed face-first and somersaulted backwards several times before landing in an awkward sprawl in the middle of the field.

"And It looks like Weasley's down for the count- but McFarlane's caught the Snitch for a Gryffindor victory! And that's a dramatic end for a brilliant game by Gryffindor, well done..."

Harry saw Madame Hooch lifting Ginny onto a stretcher and rushed off, Hermione, Luna, and Neville in tow. He managed to cut them off as they entered the Hospital Wing. Ginny looked even worse up close; her face and robes were covered in dirt, and her nose was bleeding badly. Madame Pomfrey bustled out of her office, wand in hand. "Another Quidditch injury? One day they'll listen to me and ban the whole event... I swear, I heal more of them then... Well, never mind." She muttered under her breath as she cleaned Ginny off.

"Madame Pomfrey?" Said Harry cautiously. "Is she alright?"

"Well, she should be fine... Eventually, that is. She has a bit of a concussion, and a good bit of bruising... But she should be alright once she wakes up."

Ginny slept for several hours. By the time she awakened, Neville and Luna had both left. She slowly opened her eyes and groaned, making Harry and Hermione jump. "What the... What the hell happened?"

"You got tackled and fell, it was-" Hermione started, but Ginny cut her off.

"No, not that... I mean, did we win?"

Harry grinned, reassured. "Yeah, McFarlane caught the Snitch right when you got tackled- final score 290 to 30."

Ginny sighed and relaxed. "Great, we're back in the running for the cup, I was worried that we wouldn't make it... Now... Why am I in the Hospital Wing, again?"

"It was awful!" Said Hermione. "You got tackled and flipped backwards, and... You don't remember that?"

Ginny closed her eyes in thought. "Um... A bit... I don't know. But as long as we won, I guess it doesn't really matter."

Hermione shook her head in exasperation. "Honestly, I'll never understand this sport... I'm going to bed." She grabbed her back and left the Hospital Wing, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.

Author's Note: This was probably the most difficult chapter yet. I took to long to get going, and really lost my groove here. Why did I wait so long? You know, I've had a lot going on and... Alright, fine. I was playing Skyrim the whole time. Sue me. But Skyrim is back in the RedBox, and I'm back here (until I inevitably buy it). But I haven't completely been neglecting this story, and I've made some important decisions: (**THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART**) I'm cutting this story back a bit. I've cut out some arcs that I had planned, mostly because they weren't panning out in my mind very well. So I'm cutting out a lot of this story, and pretty much entirely cutting out the next story that I had planned (ideas to be recycled at a later date). So the next one that I write will actually be what would have been the third. Long story short, I'm cutting to the chase, making this a three part series (and maybe some others after as a part of a different series). This doesn't really impact the Transformers thing I've been working on, although I might push that back, as I have another crossover idea (one that makes a bit more sense) that I've been working on. I've left some hints, and it's up to you to find them. Until then, Narf out. Probably no update tomorrow. Maybe Tuesday.

Nelly94: Believe me, if I don't update fast, I will forget everything that's happened leading to a vicious cycle of bad memory and not being able to reread that leads in a dead story. It's happened before. BUT I'M DOING MY BEST THIS TIME.

Silent Shootting Star: Yeah, that should work just as well. As far as I know, the only difference is that DocX keeps some formatting that doesn't even affect the actual post. And unfortunately, my system is a dog-eat-dog hierarchy that basically amounts to anarchy. But the title's still important.

Starzinmyeyez: Aw, don't be like that, you know that I didn't mean you. And trust me, I _do _ have to update regularly, less to please people, and more because I have a memory like a dog turd. If I don't keep it up, I forget everything, and I cannot reread my own writing: the experience is literally painful. But yeah, I've kind of just accepted that I'm not going to enjoy writing every chapter. I mean, sometimes you have to dig through some boring or tricky stuff to get to the goods. But we're getting there, and I took time to streamline. Just one more piece that I need to figure out, and we're good to go until the next story (Which I think I can manage easily enough), and the third one (Which I'm excited for myself).

1812Steph: I'm on it. But then again, she's technically _not_ an adult by our standards. Then again, I'm trying to stick to a T rating, so it shouldn't make much difference in the long run.


End file.
